New Years is always a time for reflection, looking back over the past 12 months and planning for the next. So as we reflect on 2020, it’s fair to say there has never been a year like it, in our lifetimes. It has been a challenge for many, if not everyone that we know, for one reason or another. We have all been affected by corona virus, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. As 2021 dawns, and the reality of a vaccine gets closer and closer, we will hopefully start to see the light at the end of the corona tunnel and be able to live our lives like we have before. But looking back on this year, we will have all learnt a lot about what we are capable of, what our strengths are, and what is important to us, and we need to use that as we move forward into 2021 to make it our best year yet.
Family and friends
We quite often take for granted the closeness we share with our family and friends, but not being able to give our loved ones anything more than an elbow bump or a foot shake since March has really made us value human contact. For some people the fact that we haven’t been able to go within 2 metres of someone outside our household has probably been a blessing, but for me, I found it hard to keep under control. It’s hard not to hug your mum or a friend when they are feeling low, or when they are joyous and we want to share in that joy. So taking this forward into 2021, as soon as we are allowed, I will value every human contact that I have, and take joy from the hugs, hand holding, friendly pats, and just the release from the paranoia that you are potentially passing on or picking up the virus if you get too close.
Having interaction with family and friends and sharing good times, makes me want to be able to spend as much time with them as I can in the future, having fun and going on adventures. I have missed adventuring so much! I want these times to last as far into the future as possible. I want all my friends to remain healthy and happy, so that we can all adventure together for a long, long time. So this means we all need to look after ourselves and keep ourselves healthy- it sounds like a cliché but it’s true. 2021 will definitely be about staying healthy, maintaining my own healthy habits, getting really fit and strong and encouraging healthy habits in my friends and family wherever I can.
Resilience
2020 has definitely been the year of building and maintaining personal resilience for all of us. There will have been times when that resilience has faltered and we have felt at a really low ebb. But I will say this… if you are reading this article, you have come through it. You may have had some horrendously tough times this last 9 months. You may well have been very poorly yourself, or perhaps cared for those who have been very poorly. Tragically there will be people among us who have lost loved ones. You may have struggled financially. You may have lost your job or your business. But you are here and you have come out of the other side, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, and we have to carry on for those that can’t. This year will have taught us all so much about what we can cope with and how we cope with that hardship. These lessons are transferrable to all areas of life, if you apply them correctly. If you can get through this, you can get through anything. That is resilience! I am sure we will all enter 2021 a stronger, more resilient versions of ourselves, compared to the start of 2020, so we need to harness that strength and use it wherever we can.
The best things in life are free
Lastly, I think that most of us have learnt that material things are immaterial. The best things in life are free. Peace and quiet after a busy day at work, a walk in the beautiful countryside in the sunshine, being able to spend time with people you love, zoom quizzes, video calls, passing the time of day with an acquaintance on a daily walk. These are the things that brought us joy in 2020, and made me realise that I don’t care much for material things. I have what I need all around me. For this I will enter 2021 feeling more grounded and self-aware and less materialistic, and I bet I am not the only one.
Finally, thank you to all of you!
Both Rick and I are eternally grateful for the support that you have all shown through this last year, and we have had lots of fun hopefully keeping you motivated and on track, and may be even a little bit entertained. Whatever you have survived in 2020, it’s done, that time is past. 2021 is your year. Use what you have learnt in 2020 to enter 2021 with a positive mindset and a desire to be the best version of yourself. The world is yours for the taking, you just have to get up and grab it!
Tell us what you have learnt about yourself and what you want for 2021 in the comments below! We look forward to reading them.