2020, in one word, was - dreadful, and we are still dealing with the aftermath of the emotional roller coaster as. a result of it all. Although we’ve entered into 2021 hopeful, yet still quite unsure about how future events will unfold, it’s important to look back and see what we experienced, how we navigated through it all, acknowledge when we were at our weakest and applaud ourselves when we handled it! I am a huge advocate for self reflection and self analysis. It is my hope that mapping out how to go about this personally gives you the structure to do it for yourselves and just marvel.
Change
The moment that everything went south and lock down orders were mandated, our lives were turned upside down and some of us may still be dealing with the effects of this change. Whether it is working remotely, homeschooling or learning at home schedules, not seeing family, adjusting to the new shopping norms, wearing masks to having to cancel traveling plans. It all happened hard and fast!
Loss
As much as there wasn’t much left for us to do, but to take in these new circumstances in our lives, we did it! We as mothers, wives, daughters, sisters and women stood at the face of adversity and rolled with the punches, all while our lives felt like they were being shattered. We’ve had to endure the loss of loved ones, loss of employment, loss of hope and loss of self this past year and that was ridiculously hard.
Perspective
In spite of all that, we remained focused on being that glue to hold our families and relationships together. We checked in on family and friends, whichever way possible, while being cautious. We became hairstylists, barbers, pet groomers, teachers and coaches. We learned how to become more hands on at home, like baking bread, learning to cook, painting, redecorating, gardening, reading more books or binging shows that made us happy. We kept a positive outlook and protected our homes, regardless of what was happening on the outside. Please, let’s look back and give ourselves the credit we deserve.
Growth
Regardless if we were looking to or not, we evolved. We may feel like we took a beating while it was happening, but here you are. We see you and we know that it was hard. That being said, be proud of where you are today. Some of us took this opportunity to change direction in our lives, try something new or tap into a version of ourselves we weren’t aware existed, and that my friends, is beautiful and should be celebrated.
Hope
Although we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we are hopeful for better days and are feeling a bit lighter with each passing day. Let’s hope that we can look back at this experience and glean the good bits, celebrate how we handled this mess, be proud of the way we dealt with it and learn from things that we could have improved. This was a process of self discovery and let's collectively try to be positive and stay hopeful.