I was laughing thinking back on my “2020 will be my year” declarations at the end of 2019 (lols so hard) and decided to write a post about what 2020 taught me because why not.
I’ve made it no secret that 2020 tested me to the limits. Ok, it tested all of us, some more than others, many more than me, but we all felt it. I mean so much happened this year that it’s wild to think about it. From Kobe Bryant passing away, to the explosion of pandemic, to us having to cancel a European getaway long planned and losing tons of money in the process, to the BLM movement gaining traction worldwide, to my uncle passing away in the UK from COVID, to my husband being locked out of the country resulting in us spending our second anniversary apart, and my dad not being in the best of health, its been quite the mind-eff. And thats not even half of it. I didn’t mention the national elections both in my country and in the US (both chaotic in their own way) and I also didn’t touch on the fact that that the existence of aliens was all but confirmed (without much ado). Crazy.
Pat yourself on the back if you made it out with your health in tact and with minimal whiplash because its been a heavy one. Nonetheless, in spite of all the yuck that the year brought, there was some good, and many lessens. After reflecting, I wrote some of them down, in no particular order.
What 2020 taught me
- I am stronger than I know, even when I don’t want to be strong;
- Kindness is key, in almost every situation;
- Some friendships are meant to be only for a season as sad as that may be;
- Family is everything;
- I am indeed a homebody. Unlike Danny, I have always loved being home while he is way more outdoorsy. Interestingly, when I asked him for some things 2020 taught him, the first thing he said was that he learned that he actually enjoys being home more :D;
- I’m grateful for everything I have, my job, my home, my family, my friends, my sweet husband (so grateful for him) etc. More grateful than ever;
- I don’t have to, and more importantly, I can’t, be in control of everything, no matter what my very Virgo brain tells me;
- Prayer can fix anything, and if it doesn’t it’ll make me feel better anyway;
- Yoga makes me extremely happy;
- black lives matter and I don’t have to shut up about it or be quiet to make others comfortable on the issue of race;
- There are people who will genuinely look at the same situation as me and have a completely different view, and I have to accept that, no matter how stupid/ill-informed/idiotic I know their viewpoint to be;
- I can and will judge someone for their political views if those views are in any discriminatory;
- Building puzzles and playing board games with friends are still fun;
- Social media can be the worst;
- Social media can be the best;
- I can survive without eating chicken and/or red meats. Ive been pescatarian since January. I may not remain pescatarian forever, but its nice to know I can.
- I can live with less and more simply;
- There is always a silver lining. Always;
- I am persistent and relentless when I want something. Its a quality I admire about myself;
- I really love to travel, and I really miss it, and I will travel as soon as I can again;
- All of us are more alike than we care to admit, the pandemic didn’t discriminate, it affected all of us. The entire world. Each race, each creed, each culture;
- Patience is still not my greatest virtue but I have more than I thought;
- Even at its worst, life can be good.
I’m sure there’s more, but I honestly think I have some PTSD from this year because there are legit some parts of 2020 that I can’t think about too hard, or for too long. I know that sounds silly, but it’s true. So this is what I could come up with after reflecting on the parts that weren’t too weird to reflect on.
As for 2021, I have big goals. Finishing a book is one of them and I’m confident a first draft will be done soon, which in itself is exciting. I also have some career goals and personal goals that are also exciting. Basically, in spite of 2020, I am excited for 2021.
To be clear, I don’t expect 2021 to somehow magically fix our worldwide issues. It won’t, and if anything, what 2020 taught me most of all was that we can make plans, but we are not in control at all, and every single one of those plans can get thrown out of the window before without our consult. Still, I’m happy to see the backside of 2020, if only to get a proverbial clean slate, one where we expect that BS will be thrown at us. That’s the thing, we were all just really ill-prepared for 2020. 2021 will meet us more resilient, stronger and ready. I’m excited.
