How even a year like 2020 can be seen more positive

We hear it very often these days “what a year it has been…” or “2020 was a real disaster”. But is this all true?

There is certainly no doubt that there have been better years than 2020 for spending time with our loved ones or travelling the world. There is even less doubt that for some of us 2020 has been economically challenging, as well as not been the best one from a health perspective for people with severe illnesses.  

However, it is not all dooms day as often said by people. Those of us lucky enough not to be severely impacted health - wise or economically, should try and see the positive things this year brought upon us.

Many people had a lot of time to reflect on what really is important in life and discovered that basic things like family, friends and being loved are essential to make our life bearable even in moments of deep crisis. We learned to appreciate the small things and to be humble.

Some of us also made important discoveries in their life, be it we don’t actually like the job we do as much as we thought, or we even split up with our partner after lockdown because we realised it just did not fit. In the short term this often is not seen as a good thing, however we might have never found out had there been no lockdown. Others have started new hobbies such as learning a new language and discovered talents that they never knew they had before. We had time for training and development of our careers, as well as to just sit at home, think and reflect on ourselves as well as our lives, probably for the first time in years.

In summary, all those aspects were important reflections in our life, that were made easy for us to forget about or avoid facing as we always relied on external distractions or had better things to do.

COVID-19 and the year 2020 was not all that bad, therefore. We learned to stand together, to express solidarity and care for one another and appreciate the life we had before COVID-19 way more than we might have done in the past.

So, what do we learn from this year and once life goes back to whatever will be the new normal, how much of that do we take with us?

 I hope it will be some of the care and appreciations as well as reflection on ourselves and others. However, it is important to remember that even in a crisis like COVID-19, it is always a question of perspective and even in deep crisis there is always some light and some positivity for us to see at the end of it. If we inherit this in our hearts, I am sure in whatever way 2021 will be a great year.