IT’S only February and already so much has happened in 2020. From Australia’s devastating bushfires and the seeming idiocy of powerful people to the sudden passing of a basketball star and the Wuhan coronavirus unsettling the world, it seems an ominous start to an eventful year.
As I read the news each morning and sigh a great deal, I can’t help but wonder whether the universe is trying to teach us something, as some would say. I am a believer of lessons to be found and learned in the events that occur around us.
As individuals in community and players on the shared stage of life, these lessons are for me, and hopefully for all of us, as we work to build a future that promises peace and fulfilment for all.
First, I am learning that ignorance may be bliss, but that bliss is all but short-lived. Climate change remains a controversial topic today despite stacks of scientific evidence attesting that we are in the midst of a crisis.
The new year has brought with it severe weather across the globe, from bushfires in Australia to floods in Brazil, no thanks to the fact that 2019 was the second hottest year on record according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that reality can only be avoided for so long. At some point, we have to throw off the shades, dig our heels in and realise that the bliss of ignorance is merely time wasted.
Second, living in a connected world has stripped words of its value, simply because they are free. So many of us are slow to listen, quick to speak and even quicker to judge. The result of this is people speaking carelessly, regardless of their influence, power or authority. We think we know so much, when really we know so little.
Increasingly, too, many of these opinions are based on incomplete information or taken out of context. Fake news is being spread around about the Wuhan coronavirus by irresponsible parties, and that only burdens the authorities more. It is often confusion and fear that paralyses society more than any threat. We are now on edge.
No longer can we trust what we hear and read to be factual or reliable. Blind trust won’t get us very far. The lesson for 2020 is that we must always verify our information, stay informed and know what we stand for if we are not to be swayed like a reed in the wind, or naively used to fulfil a larger agenda.
Finally, we need to learn to mind our own business. Quickly bored and always looking for stimulation, we thrive on flashy and shocking content. But often, the price for our entertainment is someone’s privacy, sanity or dignity.
The decision by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to step back as working royals and work for financial independence is an extreme, but necessary, wake-up call for all of us happy consumers of sensational news.
It is a reminder that every human being is deserving of respect, and that it is our moral responsibility to demand only that which is newsworthy and not stoop to needless dribble and cheap laughs at the expense of others.
It’s only February and there’s already so much to reflect on. Our world is shifting every second, and we must read the signs and learn the lessons the universe may be trying to teach us.
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