To many, 2020 was a garbage year. I mean it sounds harsh, but it is true. If you talk to different people from, from different walks of life, many of them will have a similar feeling about this year. Now that the year is coming to an end, I have been reflecting on the past 365 days, and let me tell you, there is a lot of unpack. This year was life changing from me in more ways than one. Like all of you, my life was altered from COVID. I went from having healthy friends to sick friends, working in the office to working from my bedroom, holding my concert tickers excited, to watching them slowing fall into the trash can. This year truly embodied the saying “you make plans, God laughs.” Even before COVID, my life was already on a path go change. I felt it brewing for so long, trying to ignore it but having trouble. I just could not let go of this feeling, it was almost itchy, this feeling that my life is in need of face lift. Let me explain. Summer 2019 I started a job as the marketing program specialist at a small healthcare company in Northern New Jersey. This was a major change to me because I had never had a 9-5 job before. I fully welcomed this change because it sort of started too scratch the itch I was having about needing something new. In the same week I moved out of my childhood home. Emotionally, this was hard, but it also felt refreshing considering I so desperately wanted a change in my life. Later on in December 2019, I met the most amazing person in the world, my boyfriend. This relationship has turned my life upside down for many reasons. Aside from never experiencing love and selflessness like that, he has introduced me to many powerful and life-changing concepts and ways of living. He is the reason I even picked up blogging again. Without his motivation and help I would have never believed in myself enough to blog, even though I have always felt so drawn to it. Through his help, I was introduced to the world of wellness and personal growth. I had always been interested in personal development but felt that I had only ever had a shallow/trendy representation of it. Real growth and self care isn’t all about sheet masks and bubble baths (sorry), it takes really strength and determination. It forces you to get real with yourself and to stop looking at yourself as a victim. There is nothing “insta-worthy” about recognizing that you are getting in the way of living your best life, most of us would much rather blame someone else. With this realization and the guidance of the thought leaders I discovered, I was able to make a lot of healthy choices and get myself in the right direction. Of course, Rome was not built in a day, process takes time. Don’t beat yourself up if you are still learning.
A major theme I saw this past year was to slow down and practice more mindfulness. COVID-19 taught us all to slow down and be more in the moment. Before the lockdown, I was constantly running like crazy from one thing to another. I never took a moment to slow down and consider if I am actually being fulfilled by the things that I am doing. When I was forced to slow down, it gave me the clarity to sit back and actually think about my life and the way that I am spending it. I realized that I do fully like how I am spending my life. There was a lot that I was doing simply because it was routine. Slowing down taught me to add intentionality to my days. Through this, I had the opportunity to live a more fulfilling life. Even if I did not implement all the changes that I wanted to, the awareness that I was not living life in the most fulfilling way was helpful.
No matter where you come from, 2020 impacted us all. Whether there was good, bad, or ugly, there was growth. There is always something to learn from every experience. What did this year teach you?
Let’s grow together.
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