The year 2020 is a year everyone will remember and one that will be in the history books. It was a wild ride. Rory hopped into the sleigh and joined us for the wild ride in October and that brought a lot of light into our lives. What was the light in your 2020?
If you are here and reading this, you’ve made it. Take a deep breath. Grab a cup of tea and cozy up for this one. The end of the year is here.
In a way, year 2020 brought us back to our true meaning as humans. It’s brought people back to reality and reminded us of what truly matters. As the vaccine for the virus comes out in the new year, my hope for the world is that we are able to keep in check what this year has taught us. While people are urging for outings, to dine out, to go to gatherings, to be a sporting event, to be in school again… I hope people can take lessons from this year and keep them close. I hope once the vaccine is administered and people can go back to their old lives, people can still stay slowed down. In a world where we were so rushed before, why go back to that? Hasn’t this year brought you some benefits in slowing down?
A few reflections and take aways from 2020…
- Becoming a parent in 2020 is something that I am grateful for, and did not realize how much I would cherish it. I am thankful that I’ve had so much of this year to myself, and with my little family, to think, to reflect, and to know what truly matters. Although pregnancy and new parenthood have their challenges in isolation, there are benefits to it as well. The family time was meaningful and allowed us to slow down and be together as a small family unit and get our rhythm going as a new family unit. In normal times we could have had many visitors and that in itself can interrupt the family time, the new rhythm, the new atmosphere you want to create.
- Having a frugal mindset helped us get through COVID. Frugality is a mindset which Andy and I value in our lifestyle. A frugality mindset has us being creative with our time, our hobbies, and what we do for entertainment. We saw how COVID affected people economically. It’s unfortunate that much of our society was not in this mindset already and therefore suffered hard. While we did not have any major circumstances happen to us, I cannot say that we would have suffered greatly or not. However, we have a mindset that better helps us for those types of circumstances. We were already in a habit of doing “free” things. We didn’t eat out often, we didn’t go to movies, we didn’t go on date nights that cost money. We didn’t feel we were “missing out” on too much when COVID hit. I do hope that this has taught people to be prepared for crises, to save, to plan for the unexpected.
Being “busy” does not mean you are thriving mentally/emotionally. Often times we schedule ourselves so busy that we don’t have time to think and process our emotions. I personally am a “do-er” I like to always be digging into something. This year I’ve learned to adjust and be ok with slowing down. It’s slowed down my mind, and that’s a good thing. It becomes overwhelming to be so busy that you cannot even fully enjoy and embrace the moment. Being able to have no plans gives the time necessary to breathe and allow the emotions to flow through. Don’t get me wrong, I value social outings on my calendar but being over-scheduled can cause stress and anxiety on one’s self and family.
I had to find social outlets, especially as an extrovert. For introverts maybe this year was a relief because you like time alone. Extroverts struggled andhad to find different outlets besides physical social gatherings to fill their buckets. I was so thankful to have the podcast to work on during this time. The podcast was one of my “outlets” to connect and talk with people. It helped me fill my bucket and need for social interaction. What was your outlet?
Time gives us meaningful moments to be with our own thoughts, reflect, and grow. When we are so busy we don’t have time to settle in and reflect. We rush from one thing to the next. This year has given us the gift of time and that is a very powerful thing. I’ve used the time to reflect upon my own life’s journey, and learn from the journey. We distract ourselves with being busy but giving ourselves reflection time really helps settle in. It gives you powers and tools to know what you most value in life.
Grocery store runs are not necessary on a weekly basis. I used to go to the grocery store 1-2 times a week because I could. Even prior to the pandemic we were in the habit of stocking up on freezer foods and dry goods, and always using what we had but I still had a habit of going to the grocery store frequently simply because I could. I spent hours in the store browsing things that “maybe” I would enjoy. I’ve learned it’s just not necessary. My time can be much better spent in a more productive manner. We now go to the grocery store maybe 2 times per month and we get by just fine. Freezer vegetables will work when needed. Sure they do not taste as delicious as fresh produce but this time of year fresh produce is expensive! I realize not everyone has loads of space but you can get creative with your space if you make it a priority and plan ahead for your week’s meals.
We do not need gyms to work out. Prior to the pandemic, I went to the gym on a daily basis. In my mind, if I didn’t go to the gym, I could not get a sufficient workout in. I’ve learned that all I need is YouTube and open space in my house. My workouts are just as effective and take much less time than getting in the car, driving to the gym, etc. I miss the community of a gym atmosphere, but it’s not necessary.
As the New Year rolls in, keep in mind what you learned from 2020. Keep it close to your heart. A New Year is not meant to be perfect but more so a refresher, a start over, and a time to think about how you can better yourself. Like a New Year, life is not meant to be picture-perfect moments all the time but when you are surrounded by the love of family it’s perfectly imperfect. Happy New Year!
