2020
I'm not sure where 2020 went. It feels like it lasted an eternity and was gone in the blink of an eye all at once. It feels like just yesterday I walked into Starbucks for the first time and saw it empty, but it also feels like that is now the norm. When I see someone without a mask, it seems abnormal. Does anyone else watch TV and wonder where all their masks are?
Reflection - Your Plans Can Change
I normally have a word of the year that I focus on. 2020 was the first year in a long time I never really figured out what it was, but I guess that seems fitting for such a year. I've been reflecting on what the word or words could possibly be for 2020, and I think it is something along the word "reflection" and the phrase of "your plans can change".
Does anyone else feel like 2020 caused them to question and re-evaluate so much of what is going on? Where they were headed? What they wanted? Who they were becoming?
I'm not sure that I have the answers to any of the questions I've been asking. But what I do know is, I have learned a great deal.
I've Learned...
I have learned to sit in the discomfort. It's only in sitting in the discomfort that progress can truly be made towards healing.
I've learned boundaries, are a good thing. They help you to stay healthy and others to know what your limits are - and limits are ok.
I've learned that sometimes you have to question things, including your faith. It's in the questioning that answers often come.
I've learned that it's ok to not be ok. And that the people who matter, will understand that.
I've learned, more than ever to wrestle the tough stuff, to come out better on the other side. Sometimes you learn in the wrestling you are where you need to be and sometimes you learn that you aren't.
I've learned just how much things like Target runs without masks and social distancing relax me. How much going to dinner with friends revitalizes not only myself, but my husband.
I've learned how hard it is to go a year without seeing or hugging our family and friends. We have nephews we've never even met.
I've learned that you don't know how strong you are, until you feel you can't go on anymore, yet you keep going.
Finally, I've learned that it is ok for your plans to change. It's ok if life takes you in a different direction than you originally thought. It's ok to question, challenge, and change your plans. Life is unpredictable, and the best each of us can do is make plans and decisions based on the information we have at that time. And if 2020 taught us anything, it is that we truly have no idea what the next year will bring. So question, challenge, wrestle with the tough stuff, and don't be afraid to place boundaries, sit with the discomfort, allow yourself to not be ok, keep going even when you feel like you can't, and don't be afraid to change.
Here's to hope - hope for 2021. For hugs, relaxing Target runs, and time with family and friends. For taking all we've learned in the toughness of 2020 to embrace both the good and bad that 2021 has to bring. Because we all found out we're stronger than we ever thought, thanks to 2020.
Cheers to Hope!
