2020 The World Paused

2020

Happy 2020! We welcome 2020 just like how we always welcome a new year. But what's so special about this year? Apparently, being alive in 2020 is special because that is the only year we are likely to live through wherein the first two digits will match the second digits. The next year that follows this pattern is 2121. A person alive now would have to be at least 101 to see that year. While that is possible, it is unlikely. Sad but true.

2020 The start of the new decade. A new era that we are all looking forward to starting fresh.  The New Year starts normal and full of hope. Everyone is celebrating as the year starts. Some of us have New Year's Resolutions to have a much better and promising life. Some feel that nothing has changed, the same routine just like last year.

 A lot of us are wishing that we can sleep a little longer or have more days off at work. We complain about our daily lives, work, traffic, what to wear, and other little things. We want all the comfort, a big house, a nice car and so much more. Most people don't have much time for their families due to work responsibilities nowadays. Oftentimes we don't have much time to be at home, there's no time to pause and enjoy life.

When we have family obligations and our focus is to provide things for them, we don't really think of what the New Year will bring to us. We aim for a much high paying job because we want to give our family all the very best. We sometimes work two jobs to make both ends meet. There is no time for self-love, we cannot even afford to get sick. 

We have busy lives. Bills are piling up and there's no way to stop otherwise you will end up in the street. Yes, the reality of the life we have sometimes is unbearable, sometimes you can't breathe because of the stress we encounter on a day to day basis. We struggle to face the world because we cannot find the exit to hardship, we have to race with the time. It's not easy to survive.

2020 the Year of the Metal Rat begins. January 25 is the Lunar New Year, aka Chinese New Year. It marks the beginning of the lunisolar Chinese calendar. The rat (sometimes referred to as a mouse) is the first of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.

The Chinese Zodiac is a scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. 

They said that the Year of the Rat 2020 will bring beneficial situations, opportunities, meetings with special people, luck, and also balance situations, dilemmas, and changes that can push us out of our comfort zone. It's up to us how we use them and especially how we perceive the experiences we encounter.

 We all are looking for something that will give us hope. Luck is not easy to come by, but when we see opportunities to try things that might bring us the luck that we are hoping for because who knows if we add a little faith in it, it might work. The Chinese traditions of keeping lucky charms and their practices like Feng Shui always gives us a glimpse of hope.

But if we set aside the feel-good about the year of the white metal rat and check the reality about the rat. Well, like it or not rats have long been considered deadly pests, they can cause a lot of damage and can transmit bacteria and other disease agents. Rats typically live in fear and have a very high birth rate. They hide and will only come out when it's safe. So is this a coincidence? If we are talking about the year 2020 connecting to the year of the rat.

As they say, Life is a rat race. We live in an exhausting, repetitive lifestyle that leaves no time for relaxation or enjoyment. Also, lots of people think they live like a rat or mouse during the lockdown. We have to hide inside our house for our own safety.

**Source of Informations credit to the owner**  Wikipedia - 2020, Wikipedia - Chinese Zodiac, Wikipedia - Rats                                                                               

The 2020 World Paused. Copyright © November 2020. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author.