Jingle Jangle’s Message for 2021

Just like any memorable rollercoaster, 2020 has had its share of ups and downs; and though many have been expressively critical of the lows, an unbalanced focus on the lows can cause us to forget that there were some pretty significant highs. For me, David E. Talbert’s Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey was one.

No different from the countless number of people who fell in love with the movie after the first few minutes, I watched the Netflix original more than once in a very short time period. The more I watched it, the more pronounced the messages became to me—messages I want to share with you as we boldly enter 2021.

Just like 2020, Jingle Jangle began with the promise of a better tomorrow when a young Jeronicus Jangle received a long-awaited package with life-changing and life-creating contents. Worthy of nothing less than a celebration with the family he loved, Jangle takes his family out to give them a taste of the new life his invention would bring. Perhaps the celebration was a bit premature. Maybe the celebration lasted too long. Either way, as soon as the festivities ended, it was clear that there would soon be a lot less to celebrate for a long time. Disappointment and impatience mixed with arrogance and insecurity became a formula for betrayal—introducing the first of many losses Jeronicus had to deal with. You see, Jingle Jangle is a story about loss and the resulting journey toward recovering that which was lost. It explored the loss of trust, loss of relationships, loss of magic, loss of ideas and even a loss of belief.

We were no strangers to tragedy and loss in 2020. From the January 26, 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash that took the lives of retired professional basketball star and Olympic champion, Kobe Bryant, his 13 year old daughter and the other seven passengers on board; to the startling news of Chadwick Boseman succumbing to colon cancer on the 28th of August; or the enmity between races erupting in protests in America and around the world after the unjust and senseless loss of George Floyd; and even the loss of personal autonomy from social distancing and quarantining regulations surrounding a global pandemic, I think it's safe to say, not one person has gone without the sting of losing something in 2020. Jobs were lost, homes were lost, and in too many cases, hope was lost.

Experiencing so much loss and the consequential pain from loss has taken a toil on us. And though many are looking forward to 2021, I wonder if some of us have a bit of apprehension as to whether all the loss will end with 2020. Could it be magnified in 2021? Does it even matter?

It doesn’t matter. This is where the inspirational message of Jingle Jangle comes in. Here are five important take-aways that inspired me the last time I saw it:

1. We can recover from loss. Healing, however, begins with us.

2. We are closer than we think to bringing our imaginations to life. We need to get out of our own way.

3. We are stronger than our enemies, even if we (ourselves) are our worst ones.

4. WE are the missing variable in the equation square root of possible.

5. We have the ability to manifest any possibility we want to see in our reality.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what 2021 brings externally, it matters only what we bring to 2021 internally. As we get present to the limitlessness potential of our imaginations and the limitlessness power in our ability to create, we won’t be so impacted by external happenings. As soon as we realize our ability to recover that which has been lost or solve any problem we concentrate on solving, we won’t be paralyzed waiting for some political decree or scientific discovery to save us. This truth will uncover the oft-overlooked fact that we not only have the answers, but we have always had access to the answers because we ARE the answers. We just needed a gentle reminder.

Jingle Jangle provided that reminder for me. I hope we will all soon discover this truth for ourselves, and experience a much needed boost of confidence in our inner selves, our deeper selves, and our higher selves. Then, and only then, will our personal power increase enough to take the step toward GOD that prompts GOD to take two steps toward us.

Let's make 2021 a great year!