“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”
As we leave 2020 behind, that quote by Abraham Lincoln provides us with both hope and caution facing the new year.
It was a relief to see 2020 end. The year saw a worldwide pandemic, increasing national political polarization and growing awareness of the reality of institutionalized racism and its historical and current impact on Black, Indigenous and other people of color. Yes, there were times that should be celebrated — MMI’s success in providing services despite the challenges of the pandemic is an achievement of which we should all be proud — but too often, one needed to purposely search for these victories beneath the impending clouds.
So it would be understandable to hope that, when the clock chimed midnight on New Year’s Eve, things would begin to get better. 2020 is over, right? 2021 couldn’t possibly be worse.
Better times are coming, but they indeed are coming only one day at a time. The challenges we face as a society did not disappear with the ringing in of a new year. If anything, recent events have highlighted the challenges we face. Many of us are feeling anxiety, stress and depression as we contend with economic, societal and personal challenges that seem to be coming at us from all directions.
But we continue onward. We set small goals and work toward them: “This is what I am doing today to make my life better.” And then we set larger goals: “This is what I am doing to make my community better.”
Or even to make the world better. The opening of our new home, now only weeks away, is the culmination of years of plans and dreams aimed at precisely that goal.
Welcome to 2021. We at MMI hope and trust it will be better than 2020. We will be working to make it better.
And we will get there. One day at a time.
Melonie Welsh
Director of Community Engagement
Munroe-Meyer Institute