I initially thought, “good riddance to 2020, HELLO 2021”, but I had to stop myself and appreciate what 2020 gave us, gave me. The mountain is only glorious when we understand what it means to live in the valley, and we cannot understand isolation unless we learned to live with others. So… what lessons have we learned from 2020?
On Jan. 9, The World Health Organization announced a deadly coronavirus had emerged in Wuhan, China. In a matter of months, the virus spread across the globe.
Emotional Healing
The coronavirus pandemic triggered a global recession as numerous countries went into lockdown. The Dow Jones industrial average suffered its worst single-day point drop ever on March 9, fear and anxiety gripped the nations …and so it began.
The police-involved killings of George Floyd, and others this year sparked a wave of peaceful — and sometimes violent demonstrations across the world to demand an end to police brutality and racial injustice. This inspired me to write My song I can’t Breathe
The invasive insect, known as the Asian giant hornet, was spotted stateside when they invaded Washington State. Measuring up to two inches, the hornets can wipe out entire bee colonies within hours.
A monkey stole COVID samples In a bizarre incident in one of Uttar Pradesh’s largest government hospitals, a monkey attacked a lab technician, snatched vials containing blood samples from three coronavirus patients and escaped. A video of the incident, which occurred in May, shows the monkey sitting atop a tree with the samples it stole.
In 2019, I published my book: Emotional healing through Relationships and I planned to tour women’s conferences and churches to promote. As Covid-19 unfurled, my plans and income started to crumble, I went to plan B… and then Plan C… until I was forced to surrender the year of my dreams to the year of 2020s reality. My definition of resilience is adjusting myself to align with the current circumstance. My reality was, and is, I won’t tour. Families are strapped for income and my plans will just be put on hold.
Stand out from the crowd, embrace your uniqueness.
“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”
Shannon L. Alder
2020 has presented some unforeseen challenges, but it has also given me a tremendous opportunity to slow down, and do some deep thinking around my life, my commitments my core values and plans.
It has been important for me to practice self-care, and this doesn’t simply mean taking bubble baths or buying things because they make me feel good. Finding time to be alone, taking care of my health , drinking celery juice, taking vitamins. As I recovered from Covid, I have learned to be so deeply and humbly appreciative for my health.
From the scary to the bizarre what have I learned? Our lives can be simpler, It is possible to slow down and spend time with family, We can live on less than we thought, We have more innovation left in us, We can serve God anywhere, Racism still exist, we can still fight it. Happy New Year!
