As we approach the light at the end of the tunnel that is the pandemic, I’m increasingly asked about the investment opportunities that will rise out of the recovering economy. As I look around for the answer, I come back to investing in yourself as the best opportunity to come from this horrific morass.

It’s odd to think we’re mere weeks away from the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 in the United States. We were initially led to believe that this virus would be around for several months but not much longer. Alas, here we are a year later with spiking levels of infection and death and were it not for the vaccines, we could easily face another year of unchecked spreading.

This year has been trying on everyone around the world — something that has not applied to another event in my lifetime. Did humanity pass the test? Dare I say yes? I think we did. This is not to say we didn’t suffer. In fact, it’s the enduring of the suffering which has been our individual challenge to a person.

As we emerge from the darkness of the pandemic period to the light that is our future, this is our opportunity to reflect on what we’ve been through—the impact COVID-19 had on us individually and how we might handle it differently were it to come again. In order to do that, we need to look at where we are in our own growth trajectories and find those parts of ourselves that hold the promise of growth and adaptation.

For many, their first look inside will be at their working self. If the pandemic exposed in your professional situation a vulnerability that left you feeling frustrated and at the whims of your employer, or the leaders that directed what was allowed to happen during this stretch, this would seem to be an ideal time to consider alternatives.

Maybe for you this is the chance to pivot towards something you always wanted to do. Or perhaps it’s stimulating in your soul the desire to get more education. Between our adult learning courses in town, and the vast opportunities to learn about literally everything online, this would seem an ideal time to build the knowledge that allows you to head in a new direction.

What about the countless number of hard-working individuals who will lose their business in this time, through no fault of their own? It’s a tragedy indeed. Yet every business owner I’ve ever met wasn’t a one-trick pony. If you had what it took to run a viable business at one point, you have it forever. Many of the good folks in this cohort will be best suited to going back to work for themselves. Maybe it won’t be in the same business as the one they lost. Maybe it will be. But they shouldn’t throw in the towel. The economic backbone of our country are small business owners.

Moving away from professional considerations, I think many of us are now in a position to look back on how we’ve carried ourselves during this extremely isolating and stressful time. Did we let things get the best of us? Or did we battle on with a positive attitude most of the time? I know I wish I would have been more circumspect about the events of the last year and wish in hindsight that I hadn’t let some of it get the best of me.

We’ve never been more divided as a county. Much of that has a political explanation. But it was exacerbated by the virus for certain. Were we always our best selves when we encountered our fellow citizens with whom we did not see eye to eye? Did we judge the other person for their response to the virus? Did we judge them for their political opinions? The me that I want to be wishes he hadn’t taken some of the circumstances so personally, and I’m investing in my own treatment of others going forward.

I hope all the best for you and your family in the New Year and hope you’ll make 2021 the year you invest in your most valuable resource: yourself.