If I could think back on where I was a year ago, and see myself where I am today, I never would have predicted how happy and content I am, nor believed that so many good things could happen when it feels like everyone is telling you the world is falling apart.
Below is a list of the major personal take aways I’ve had from my “year” – March 2020 into 2021.
- Have faith things will work out
- If 2021 has done anything, it has made me believe things really do happen for a reason. The COVID-19 pandemic was completely unexpected, and the first several months of it I was paranoid and anxious. However, looking back, I can see that the pandemic enabled me to move out of a toxic living situation with my landlord, reunite with my family, move to an area I love and be closer to friends. I am 1000xs happier then I was at the beginning of 2020, even before the pandemic. It has enabled me to increase my savings, become more involved in my community and develop new relationships. None of this would have been possible had my entire life not been thrown upside down.
- Learn the difference between what you can control vs. cannot control
- For the longest time my anxiety related to the pandemic directly correlated with trying to control everything in my power to not get COVID-19. Despite this, I still got COVID. I remember I left my house once in a two week time period to pick up food, followed all the social distancing guidelines, and I still got sick. My case was fortunately very mild, and no one I lived with got it from me. Afterwards, I was angry, because I had done nothing “wrong” to get the disease. But it made me learn that just because you do everything “right” doesn’t mean everything always goes to plan. It’s helped me release a lot of unspoken pressure I had on myself to do everything perfectly.
- Remember to take time for yourself
- I feel like this is one point I have learned and re-learned over and over again the past few months. This year has served as a reminder that taking time for oneself can mean socializing, taking on hobbies, or spending healthy time alone to either reflect or recharge. It all depends on what you need in the moment. It takes time to learn how to recognize what you need, but it is valuable in life.
- Don’t be afraid to communicate your thoughts
- In the past, I’ve always considered myself a direct communicator. But this year has shown me the value of speaking up when people are personally offensive. Sometimes, they do not realize that what they have said is harmful to an individual. Other times, they say it out of spite. Regardless, saying something, rather then glazing over a possible confrontation, is better for the psyche.
- What feels like a step back can sometimes actually be a step forward
- Life is not a linear path. Moving back home felt like the opposite of my goal in 2020, but it has been the best thing for me in terms of being a happier person. Along with this, giving up on goals does not automatically mean failure. Sometime a break from a challenge offers time to be refreshed and get a new perspective, leading to unexpected solutions. In my personal life there have been too many ironic moments where I have accepted that something is just not meant to happen and instead chose to have faith that things will fall into place when they are meant to, only for them to almost magically happen before my eyes. Releasing the pressure on yourself to always be moving in one direction gives freedom for things to fall into place that you never expected.
Chasing serendipity 