New Year’s Eve…
Normally I’d have been at a party, optimistically toasting the year ahead. Normally I’d be looking ahead to many busy months of overseas and domestic travel, events and time on board our ships. Normally I’d make several resolutions, many of which would be forgotten by spring. This New Year’s Eve, however, was anything but normal but I made one overwhelming resolution and one that I will definitely keep.
I resolve to look after my physical wellbeing and mental health and that of my family, close friends and colleagues and help us to protect each other. That resolve is critical and if we all make a similar resolution I’m confident it will see us through the next difficult few months as we continue to work from home.
Hopefully everyone had an opportunity to take some time off over Christmas and have a break for a week or two. I had an enforced break due to an alert from my Covid app, which thankfully proved to be a false alarm, but prevented me from seeing family on Christmas Day. I’m a great believer in fate and the necessary quarantine and lockdown forced me to slow down, stay at home and reduce any risk to my family. In retrospect that was a good thing, although the Isle of Wight changing tiers within a matter of weeks felt like a particularly unfair game of Monopoly – ‘Go straight to Tier 4, do not pass go, do not collect Christmas presents.’
I, like many others, was on an ERO call on Christmas Day – and my grateful thanks to all of you who supported the issues over the holidays – so my rather solitary, abstemious day was certainly not the celebration I had hoped for or planned. My thanks too to all the crew on board our ships who embraced the season with vigour to ensure that even though you were away from your families and loved ones, the spirit of togetherness was very evident.
I thought the ‘vital emails only’ rule worked well and it’s one that we can all continue to bear in mind in the current climate as so many of you juggle home schooling, caring for relatives and working from home. Please do let me know any feedback on this topic, I’d be interested in your views.
And even though our operations may be paused, your careers and development are certainly not paused. Take this time to set career goals and objectives. Where do you want to be in January 2022 and what’s the path to take you there? Talk to your manager about your development and use this time wisely to invest in yourselves. It’s the most worthwhile investment you can make.
As I write this, the prime minister has put us all, once again, into lockdown and this time it feels particularly difficult and harsh as there was no notice and no time to prepare. Travel, hospitality, aviation and leisure industries have had the worst of it, with so many decisions forced upon them. Small businesses and sole traders have had to be resourceful and adapt to a constantly changing landscape. Fine dining restaurants have turned into takeaway operations and travel agents have struggled with bans on international travel and evolving rules and regulations.
However, while it may be incredibly tough in the short term, this time round we can see the finish line quite clearly as the vaccine roll out begins. It is, in essence, the shot of hope and optimism.
It is the immunity we need so that, once we get through this period, life can and will return to normal. We may have to adapt a little bit more but once again there will be cause to celebrate, to be together, to travel and to hug each other just that little bit tighter and, of course, to set sail with our fleet.
So let’s embrace this new year, keep our resolutions and we will, I’m sure, reach the finish line.
Paul