Lessons Learnt in 2020
1. Don’t take anything for granted
2020 was the year that we learnt that majority of us take a lot for granted: health, travel, family, friends, job, basically everything in life. We often don’t appreciate what we have until it’s taken from us. This year, almost everything that made our life stable, was taken from beneath our feet and ruffled our feathers. It was unsettling not knowing when we’d see our loved ones next. It was scary doing something as basic as grocery shopping because ‘what if it made us sick to go out in public’. What had become the normal and mundane parts of our lives now have become the most important things. We were made revalue our lives and look at what/who mattered to us.
Young people tend to think we are indestructible and nothing can happen to us our the people in our lives. 2020 thought us differently. Everyone began taking more time for the people they love. We started appreciating that simple ‘hello’ from our neighbours or those warm hugs from family members.
Sadly, nothing in our life is guaranteed to be there tomorrow, including the people you love. One minute your life can be happy and ‘perfect’ and then suddenly, everything can change.
Make sure you appreciate what you have, while you still have it. Tell those important people you love them, before it’s too late.
2. Perspective is a good thing
We tend to lose perspective very easily these days. Everything is a do or die situation and all very dramatic. In the grand scheme of things, the majority of things won’t matter in 5 months or 5 years so why do we get so hung up on these issues?
That argument you are having with your Mam, that job you didn’t get, those pair of shoes you had your eye on for months that sold out before you got them, etc etc, you get the gist of what I am trying to say. All those incidents may be upsetting in the moment but don’t get hung up on them.
It is very tough to see the long term of situations when you are in the moment but unless its life changing, take a few breaths, let go and move on. My main mantra of 2020 is this; we can’t control what is happening around us, but we can control how we react to it. So if you react negatively to a situation, you are going to get bad energy back.
3. There is no shame in not having it all figured out
When we are in our 20s, we are all obsessed with having everything planned and figured out. NEWS FLASH: No one has it all figured out. We need to learn that there is no shame at all in saying “I don’t know.”
We tend to believe that there is some kind of shame in admitting we haven’t everything figured out and that we all have our limitations. We all make mistakes and mess up – that’s life. We learn from everything and grow.
You might look around and think that everyone else has it figured out, but listen here; they don’t. They are good at blending in and pretending, I’d sometimes even say they are good at faking their confidence.
Anyway, it’s more fun not having everything figured out – it’s like one big adventure!
4. Not everything is about you
This might hurt your ego but not everything is about you. You aren’t the only one going through certain things – odds are there is at least 10 people going through the exact same thing!
It’s very difficult to view the world from a perspective outside of your own, since we are always so focused on what’s happening in our own lives. And of course, it is completely normal to be so focused on your own life but it might be a good idea to pay just as much attention to what’s happening to the people around you and the world around you. It’s also a good idea to see how other people view things in life and how they react to things, and how situations affect other people too and not just you.
5. You Don’t Always Get What You Want
Sometimes, no matter how much planning or how hard you work, things don’t go the way you planned and you know what? That’s completely ok. Having goals, dreams and plans are amazing and help set us in the right directions but sometimes, paths and visions might change and dreams might fail but that doesn’t mean you are a failure. We have to learn that having expectations are great but not to be too stuck on them and sometimes, just go with the flow.
6. Your health is your wealth
As the saying goes; your health is your wealth. This year, many have learnt this lesson the hard way. People who would have no health complaints are being struck down with this virus and having long term effects.
7. You won’t please everyone
In life, we want to impress and please everyone we met. It’s in our human make up to want to have everyone’s approval and to be liked. But we don’t need everyone to like us, approve of us or even agree with our arguments. You have to be the source of your validation, you shouldn’t seek for it from anyone else. It’s like RuPaul says; ‘If you can’t love yourself, how I the hell are you gonna love somebody else?
2020 has been the year of many lessons – what lessons have you learnt?
