Hoping for the Best

Well, obviously I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and safe new year which brings you nothing but the very best things that life can offer. I think after all the turmoil of the past couple of years which were filled with so much dread and uncertainty, I think we all probably feel we could do with a break. As we look forward to this coming year, aside from wanting our families and friends to stay safe, I honestly believe -wherever you might be from- it's the simplest things that are at the top of the wish list. Being able to travel, visit friends without having to be rigorously tested, meet for lunch without taking on and off masks between each mouthful-all things we once took for granted and yet now feel almost like rare privileges. I do have hope, now we have been denied these basic freedoms, we will genuinely cherish them, now they're back. I do know some restrictions are in place, depending on where you live, but, for the most part, we are all heading out of the proverbial pandemic woods and into the sunshine. 

However, since the Omnicron variant appeared, there are hospitalisations and it seems a fair percentage of those new patients were committed anti-vaxxers. For months, they protested with their various theories as to what was really happening. I don't need to repeat them here but, as an example, there was the one about how the vaccine was really nothing more than an excuse to have a microchip inserted, so Bill Gates could ultimately rule the world. When I heard this particular claim, I have to say, I felt a slight twinge of sympathy for Mr. Gates. After all, I have been fully vaccinated and so he can now allegedly track my every move which must be extraordinarily dull viewing for him. Frankly, I doubt many of us while going about our daily chores, would keep him very entertained. I feel almost obligated to do at least one vaguely shocking thing just to stop him from falling asleep!

Although it is easy to poke fun at the more outlandish theories, I have to admit to feeling increasingly irritated by the protesters. Aside from the fact they disrupt everyone else's life by blocking roads, harassing patients and staff at vaccination centres, hurling abuse outside hospitals, etc. Several of them are now ill with COVID, the very illness they insisted didn't exist. Now, obviously, I don't want anyone to be sick but I have to confess to being slightly resentful, that so many hospital resources are now being diverted to care for anti-vaxxers which means there are more operations delayed, more people suffering as the result, very often living with pain because their outpatient's appointments have been cancelled. If the protesters had simply had the vaccination, many of those ongoing issues would never have happened.

I am also genuinely surprised why they have such an issue with vaccinations at all! I mean, here in the UK, all children receive protection from measles, mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, smallpox, and tuberculosis. These are administered when they're young and then booster shots are routinely given and why? To prevent them from getting these awful diseases which if left untreated could prove to be fatal. So when another illness appears and wreaks havoc, not just throughout my country but most of the world, it seems madness to me to turn any kind of protection down. I was especially concerned when I heard one mother say she would rather her child die than have the vaccination, a statement that is simply beyond my comprehension.

Speaking only for myself, I sincerely hope this new year brings a fresh perspective to those who either through fear or misinformation, refuse to do anything to protect not only themselves but the wider community. If you are concerned, seek informed medical advice instead of reading that sleeping with lavender under your pillow will prevent infection or if you take pills meant to treat horses, you'll be absolutely fine.

We have such an opportunity to make this year really special and that's why I chose to title this post about hoping for the best. I do know I talk about hope a great deal but I really believe, at times, it can be all we have. To find reasons to look forward with a degree of optimism rather than live in fear of what's to come, well, that has to be a better way.

So, Happy New Year, my friends, we are very blessed to still be here and so we have to make the most of every single day....until the next time..as always...

Take care out there xxx