A man walks into a bar...

...not in 2020.

You've got more chance of Oscar Pistorius catching athletes foot or taking a selfie with a Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat (there are only 115 left in the wild).

2020 has been a year of confusion, change, adaptation, loss and triumph. Everyday life, went from easy-going, carefree mobility to confused global lockdowns and anthropophobia.

The 2020 mud was thickened, with a deadly pandemic, civil unrest, economic and political turmoil on a global scale. As the countdown to 2021 begins, our brains instinctively recap and compartmentalise events:

• Devastating bushfires across Australia
• Toilet paper shortages (bummer)
• Kobe Bryant passing away
• Fake news (or not, who knows) 
• Stock Market crash
• The rise of cancel culture
• Global Riots
• Global GPS tracking app for humans 
• Murder Hornets (kind of)
•  A global pandemic, the most significant international health crisis in more than 100 years

There was no "Christmas day truce", this year Santa was forced to stay at home, repurposing toys & watching The A-Team, (Christmas Day truce: a friendly football match, between the British and German armies during WW1).

As we stumble into 2021 preparing to rebuild, we can all agree that 2020 is definitely one for the books, and leaves very little to reminisce on gleefully. That being said, if you dig a little deeper and look around, you will find some unique gems and personal reflection points, many (like myself), changed careers, struggled, cut back, had babies (life goes on) all whilst adapting as best we can to the "new normal".

Some 2020 gems:

• A six-year-old boy protects his four-year-old sister from a vicious dog attack (now that boy is a hero)
• A new plastic-eating super enzyme (this enzyme can degrade plastics in hours as opposed to centries)
• A 13-year-old, used 3D printers to print out ear guards for healthcare workers
• Nearly extinct animals staged a comeback
• Global renewable energy recorded growth
• Healthcare workers got the appreciation they deserved
• Captain Sir Thomas Moore, a 99-year-old veteran, raised ￡33 million for the NHS
• Marcus Rashford (a footballer) successfully pressured the UK government into pledging four hundred million - to combat child poverty (fantastic work).

For the first time in "modern history", it is clear that all of us are in the same boat. We need Global cooperation, unity and understanding, not just in ensuring a worldwide recovery, but also in preparing collectively for the next pandemic which could prove even worse, something has to change.

In a social media-driven age, the quest for perfection is exhausting and unrelenting. People spend hours picking holes in humanity, pointing fingers and writing an endless report card on accomplishments, views, past mistakes or other people. It is not our fault; 9 months into lockdown, we all have varying degrees of cabin fever, bound by the four walls that once kept us safe from the elements, now a confirmation bias prison.

Peaceful co-existence under the banner of mutual survival, altruistic assistance and global solidarity may be a bit much to ask for all at once. Our minds are pliant; Consciousness is generally regarded as a product of brain activity, and if altruism is a quality that can be grown day by day...

...then maybe, next year, a man can walk into a bar with friends, a food bank the following day to help out, and visit a care home for a chat with the elderly the day after that.

Be self-aware enough to think about others' well-being, day by day; it will be a Happier New Year.

Be lucky.