“You cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.” - Steve Jobs
And connect, they did.
When you move in God’s favor and grace, things will eventually fall into place. Better yet, when God moves us to His favor and grace, we shall never lack because His power is perfected in our weakness. All the dots are connected by God’s enduring mercy.
This year taught me to embrace life’s seasons and everything in between — including living through a pandemic. When the lockdowns began early this year, I told myself that there was no other time to do the things I had been putting off (sans travel). “Today” finally became the perfect time to do it, because tomorrow was not guaranteed (and never would be). I told my cousins that we weren’t sure if we would see each other again come 2021. All the fears, reservations, and excuses vanished. The things I have been wanting to splurge on, the words I have always wanted to say, the things I have been keeping to myself but have always wanted to share, the love I have been wanting to express and give away but bottling up for fear of rejection.
Do it now. Do it now. Do it now.
Present, both as a moment in time and a gift, now makes sense.
Grace, in the form of a new day, a warm smile, genuinely good people, and the smallest acts of kindness, means so much more than ever before.
I missed nights of meaningful conversations over a cup of coffee or bucket of beer, but I had the most sincere and thoughtful talks over the phone: a 45-minute catch-up with friends, an hour-and-a-half long call about taking chances, a 30-minute work call that turned into an exchange about God’s perfect timings. The list goes on. Not to mention that we also celebrated and shared our milestones via Stories, livestreamings, and snaps of our quarantine birthdays and anniversaries via Facebook and Viber groups with family and friends.
In the middle of all these are answered prayers of some of the people dearest to me: new job, new opportunities, new love, and new life. I find immense joy in seeing them basking in the triumph of their faith and patience after a long season of waiting.
In a world that witnesses people dying without having the chance to bid their loved ones goodbye, you learn to love without abandon every single day of your life. At a time when our eyes speak louder than our lips, you learn how to read into the depths of other people’s soul — and see that they mean more than what their mouth says. In a world that prides itself in being the first, being the best, and being the fairest of them all, you learn to find peace and solitude in just being human and staying kind.
There are a lot to look forward to. We wait in anticipation of good things and remain grateful for the graces and mercies that are new every morning. We hope that 2021 brings us into a season of harvest, freedom, and joy.
“So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
2021. A new dot. A moment in eternity.
