2020 may have felt like a test but we are past it, and we have lasted. There is more strength inside us than we had imagined.
It's been a long and arduous year but in the end, there is hope, and hope is what drives us forward. The last quarter of the year brought us news that the pandemic's end is nigh. That gave us the ability to dream about a safe future again. The year 2020, which felt like it would never end, wasn't all bad as it taught us many positive lessons about ourselves and life. The life experience has helped us be ready for other difficult events that might show up later.
These lessons will go a long way, and it will also shape future generations. With the passage of time, we may even forget the year 2020 but it's unlikely that we will forget what it taught us. That's how the lessons of kindness and acceptance will become a gift to the generations that come after us.
Here are some of the positive life lessons that we learned this year:
Challenges maketh a man, woman, and child is what this year taught us. We learned that no matter how hard things get, we still persevere. Even if we have to take one day at a time, we are here and alive. We may have felt grief and loneliness at some point, but we know how to get past those feelings. We know how to love ourselves and take care of ourselves and of those close to us. It's been a remarkable journey and it will forever be a part of us.
While the different situations this year tried us over and over again, it kept making us stronger and more resilient. None of us would have picked this year from a lineup of our favorite years, but just being alive is a testament to our will.
Earlier, there were always too many distractions in our day but being home, isolated, and confined has taught us that there is a lot more beauty in our everyday life. What seemed like mundane earlier seems precious now as we cling to our routines for stability. Just being able to have a walk outside our homes or going to a supermarket might seem like a big deal now, but once upon a time, we were indifferent to it. Among the other things we took for granted until now is our health. But, now we know that our bodies and minds are something to be taken care of with as much love as we would shower on our child. This taught us that small things matter in the larger picture.
From innovative ways of homeschooling to substitutes for flour, people have been creative during the lockdown period and beyond. The alternative solutions to things that seemed basic like having access to bread have been ingenious. We also learned that we can do without many things and even make things ourselves. Many of us connected to old hobbies to occupy ourselves and also to create things of function. Some enterprising folks were able to even launch businesses born out of these desperate times. These trying times taught us that humans will always find ways to persist.
We care. Not just about our close circle, but also about strangers in our community. We realized that we want to help and give back to the community. Many people volunteered to pick up medicines and groceries for senior adults, whom they didn't know personally. The internet connected us to strangers with whom we could relate and offer whatever help possible. We realized that we are capable of giving more and still be able to take care of ourselves and our own. We realized how great it feels to give to others who need something more than us and to causes that matter to us.
Living within our homes for a long period of time likely helped us realize that we had more on our plate than we imagined. For many of us, the work we did was a distraction from issues that were weighing on us. It helped us realize that we were shouldering a lot more burden and we can actually share it all. We can lean on others, and ask them to show up when we need them. We can hold others accountable for their toxicities and tell them to correct their ways so they stop hurting us. We learned that opening up dialogue, and learning tools to handle issues and difficult situations will go a long way.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the writer's own.
