Oh 2020…what a year! What. A. Year.
I think we can collectively agree that this year will be one for the history books. Many of us have lived through something that we thought we’d only read about in history books. But alas, here we are.
While we have all been living through the same hell (I’m looking at you, ‘Rona) many of us have been affected by it quite differently.
There is person who lost their loved one to the virus.
There is the person who watched
their family member or friend battle the virus.
There is the person who lost their
job.
There is the person who lost their
home.
There is the person who was filled
daily with anxiety not sure if their business would ever reopen again or not.
There is the person struggling to
find ways to earn money in today’s climate to put food on the table for their family.
There is person who is juggling
working from home and homeschooling their children.
There is the person who has felt
super lonely and is quarantined inside of their homes all alone.
There is the person who can’t go
visit their friends and family during the holidays due to travel restrictions.
There is the person who will miss
celebrating milestones with those they love.
There is the person who is filled with guilt over the thoughts they have about their children/partners because if they have to see their face one more freaking time....
There is the person who relapsed
to their addiction because this all became too overwhelming.
There is the person who has been trying to escape their current situation at home and now feels stuck due to the restrictions in the world.
2020 has not been easy for anyone. Personally, mine started off going
to hell in a handbasket even before Corona became a headline. I lost my beloved
Amelia Bedelia unexpectedly and that hit me HARD. I had already been struggling
a bit a few months prior and that certainly did not help.
Now welcome in a pandemic…
I spent months alone. Just my cats & I. I was extremely
grateful to still have a job & in March was sent to work from home for the
foreseeable future. This was actually pretty exciting to me! I had just got my
new cat October and I loved the idea of being home with him and getting him comfortable.
Plus the idea of extra time in bed and not putting extra miles on my new car…hey
it all sounded good to me!
But of course it came with it’s own bag of troubles. Troubles that many of others experienced this year. And really, when I think about 2020, “experience” is the word that sticks out for me the most. Because here’s the funny part….
we have all had a very different experience of the same experience.
If 2020 has not been OK for you….that’s OK!
If 2020 has been OK for you….that’s
OK!
Even though my year started out pretty shitty, with the death of my cat & a knee injury that would keep me from running, I have to say that for me 2020 has been OK. I managed to get a new car all by myself (well a 2017 but the newest vehicle I've ever owned!). A lot of the weight I had started gaining at the beginning of the year I lost thanks to being forced to eat more at home & online grocery shopping. Plus with working from home I was able to get out and exercise more on lunch & breaks & didn’t have to worry about my coworkers smelling me. I got to truly learn who cared for me…those who knew I was constantly by myself and would call or message to see how I was doing. I don't believe that I have ever truly expressed how grateful I am but believe me, it had saved me many times. I somehow even managed to meet someone during this pandemic and have been building a truly great relationship with this person that I absolutely cherish completely. I also was lucky enough to make a pretty big move career wise and took on a new position at work (though this means no more rolling out of bed & turning the laptop on...real pant's suck)!
My 2020 had some loss and some gain…just like everyone else. Some of us maybe lost more and maybe some of us gained more. But the point is, we all had our own experiences of this same experience and you get to decide whether you want to look back at it and feel bad about it (because maybe that’s all you can do) or feel good about it (without any guilt).
I think we can all collectively say that we feel bad for the world...this pandemic has been horrible on so many levels for us as a society. But on a personal level, you don’t have to decide it’s been horrible for you. What did you teach you? What did it show you? What strengths do you have that you didn’t know you possessed? What weaknesses were you shown that you want to work on? What can you do more of? What can you do less of? What do you need more of? What do you need less of?
Maybe you need to reach out to
your friends and family more…support your local businesses more…volunteer more…spend
more quality time with your children…take more “me” time…love more…hate less…don’t
waste moments…build memories not materials...find a new job...find a new partner...be more accepting...be less accepting...No matter how you’ve experienced
2020, 2020 has been an experience for you. And you, and only you, can decide on
whether you want to look this past year in the face and say “you didn’t break
me” or you accept defeat, know that you’re not alone, pick up the pieces and
go into 2021 stronger than ever before!
All I know is that there is one thing 2020 couldn't take from me....and that is my streak of saying I will learn to do a pushup but still not being able to do a pushup! So HA! Maybe I'll learn to do one in 2021 ;)