To say that 2020 has been challenging is putting it lightly. For the majority of the year there has been devastation across the world. You couldn’t turn on the TV or computer without seeing the impacts of fires, floods, hail and the pandemic. We are very fortunate that all our family and friends are healthy and safe and we have continued to work and have income during a time where so many are doing it much tougher.
We are incredibly lucky to have been living here in Canberra, where for us, the impact of COVID-19 came in the form of home schooling and working from home. At the height of lockdown, while trying to home school two primary school aged children, work, study and deal with the fear and uncertainty of the pandemic, I had some personally difficult and stressful days.
After one of these difficult days, I was feeling particularly stressed and was having difficulty winding down for bed. So I sat down and wrote a list of what I am most grateful for. This simple act took only a couple of minutes and the power it had on my mindset was amazing. From that day onwards, I started taking a few minutes before bed to write down at least four things I am grateful for. Some days this was harder than others, but I found on those days it was the bigger things in life that I was most grateful for, my home, my health, my family and the ability to provide for my children. On days where gratitude was easy, things like the winter sunshine, a good cup of coffee or a fun family dinner were things that I wrote down. After doing this daily gratitude practice for nine months, I still feel the benefits and I have found that I am more present during the day and notice things in my life that I am grateful for.
2020 has reignited my passion for learning. I have devoured books, online courses, videos and experiences, on many and varied topics. Despite how much I have learnt across the year, I still realise how much more there is to learn. I have piles of books waiting to be read, lists of online courses to study, podcasts downloaded and videos waiting to be watched. Continued learning is incredibly important for personal growth and I’m excited to see where this journey will take me next.
If I was to sum up what 2020 was to me, it was about gratitude and learning. I have grown, learnt more about myself and feel ready to take on 2021. We can be sure that more challenges await us in 2021 but I will meet them with gratitude and a curiosity to learn.