Well it's that time of year again where we say goodbye to one year and welcome a new one. I think most of us are pretty relieved to say goodbye to 2020 and are hoping 2021 might be a little bit brighter! I've been seeing lots of posts about just surviving 2020 and how we shouldn't feel bad if we haven't accomplished anything but just managed to get through this past year. While I definitely agree with parts of this, I think we can also be proud of all we have accomplished this year because I can guarantee everyone has accomplished something.
While it can be discouraging to look at others' accomplishments and compare ourselves to them wondering why we didn't accomplish as much, I think if we really think about this year, there can be many accomplishments that each of us can be proud of. I know there were many days I was thankful just to survive considering I spent most of 2020 very sick and pregnant or with a colicky newborn. But while it may not have been a typical year for accomplishing goals there are many things I can look at and feel I accomplished and proud of.
I accomplished getting through a pregnancy in a pandemic! I also managed to keep my toddler occupied in lockdown for several months while being super sick and pregnant (this did almost kill me but I see it as an accomplishment!). I worked from home before going off on mat leave and managed to transition to this well which I am thankful for. I made lots of new recipes and while I don't love the extra pounds that has put on me this year, I'm proud of the fact that I used to hate cooking and now am not as intimidated by it because I forced myself to try some new things.
These are just a few of the accomplishments I'm thankful for this year and I hope it's helped you think of some of yours too. I guarantee if you look at it in the right way, you will have many too. Whether you managed to work from home while helping your kids with school (and I know this was a huge, overwhelming task for many), whether you got some organizing and decluttering done at home, whether you managed to make it through many seasons of a show on Netflix (yes, I'm counting that too!), I think we have all managed to do more than just survive 2020.
I'm not trying to minimize how hard this year has been and it's definitely been harder on some people than others, but I really think how you choose to look at it can impact how you say goodbye to this year and how you walk into the next one. No matter what 2021 holds for us, I think we can go into this year being proud and thankful of getting through 2020. And no matter how you feel right now, I really encourage you to set at least one small goal for 2021. Even if it's as simple as taking care of yourself so that you can recover from 2020. Even something small to look forward to or to motivate us going into this next year can make a huge difference in our attitude, and I know I'm going to try to practice this as we start this next year in a lockdown. We got this! You more than survived 2020 and you can definitely continue to grow in 2021.
