2020 In the Rearview Mirror

We have safely left 2020 behind and find ourselves firmly planted in the new year. Like you, I’m not even sure where to start or exactly what to say about last year. Besides the global pandemic we are still in the midst of, here’s just a short list of what we witnessed this year:

• Enormous economic and market swings in both directions
• Businesses of all kinds and sizes on the ropes or going out of business
• Supply shortages and logistical disruptions
• A highly contested presidential election and shifts of political power
• Social and political protests and unrest

There really aren’t many of us who have not been touched by some (or all) of these events in 2020. To make matters worse, none of us had any idea a year ago at this time what was in store. Similarly, we don’t know what the next twelve months will bring. 

Epictetus, A first century Greek Stoic philosopher, taught that all external events are beyond our control, and that we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However, individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline.

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.”— Epictetus. Discourses. II.5

We can safely say that the one thing we learned from all of the events of 2020 that we experienced and those that we have yet to experience in 2021 is that we cannot control what happens but we can choose how to deal with what happens. Only when we are able to clearly see what is in our power and what is not can we begin to deal with the anxiety and fear that accompanies the unknown.

May 2021 be a year of clarity for all of us. Best wishes for a safe and prosperous new year.