2020, The Year That?Was

It’s the last working day of 2020, and it is as good an excuse as any to reflect back on the learnings through the one long rollercoaster of a year that it was.

1. It was a year for self-discovery

I learned how much I have been going against my nature all my life. I have always suspected it, but now I fully understand how much of an introvert I am. When everything got canceled, I realized I had been burning up socially for years. In the lockdown, my friends were suffering. They just wanted to go out, but couldn’t. And I… was fine!

2. It ‘amplified’ all that I was

The pandemic brought out “the factory default settings” in everyone. I found this particularly true in my own life. I have always had a tendency to be a workaholic. But I figured the occasional vacations, every few months, was enough to reboot my body. It was about mid-November when I realized that, with nowhere to go, I had not taken a single day off in over eight months. I’ve since had to force myself to slow down a bit. I started exercising regularly, eating healthy, and going into physical therapy for my back pain.

3. The little things that mattered

I have had similar realizations around staying up late, excessive amounts of caffeine, and not getting any sunlight for days. All affected my mood and energy much more than I suspected… which makes me wonder if I have been running on fumes pretty much all of my adult life. Since mid-November, I have moved my desk closer to the window, been waking up early, and staying away from my phone at night. Okay, the last one I still struggle with.

4. Most things can be bad and good at the same time

One other lesson that kept coming back to me was how something can be both good, and bad. While it seemed that the world was falling apart around us, it also gave us a glimpse of how powerful collective conscience can be. Despite the many fears, thousands of people took to the streets to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. There were also the stories that floated on communities such as Reddit, and Upworthy that were absolutely heartwarming.

5. Have no excuse to be who you want to be 

Another thing that certainly changed was how I got insane about scheduling. I created daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly to-do lists for myself. For the first time in my life, I developed routines around writing, exercise, and sleep. And as horrified as I am by my newfound predictability, I will probably be keeping many of these routines post-pandemic.

What are your biggest lessons in 2020?