The powerful display of uncertainty found at the beginning of the pandemic spun this world into a space of reflection unlike we have seen within my lifetime, at almost 40 years old. A surge of fight or flight has reached within one’s mentality with an invitation to show up on the daily. Throughout the span of months that have felt like years, we have been ushered into learning about ourselves on a whole different level. Reflecting on the past few years has led to this tribute to 2020.
It has become vital to know your strengths, your weaknesses, and your beliefs and to know how each of them serves a purpose in how you show up to conflict, to stress, to differences, and to the unknown. Emotions are at a raging all-time high, and it is in this place where learning how to find your inner source of joy – despite changing circumstances – is a strong focus for mental strength.
My spirit had traveled the depths of loss during 2020, as treasured family members passed away during COVID and forced FaceTime funerals became my lot. The difficulty of missing real and true face time interactions during these goodbyes, of not being able to gather with my whole family in support was taxing on the healing process. I voice this as a testament that these words I am sharing with you come from a place of hardship and tears. What has given me strength has been to intentionally lay aside the places I cannot control and renew my focus on gratitude and on the things I can control.
As we look upon a year of many losses, may we also reflect upon the ways that it brought us sharpening gains.
Showing a posture of gratitude does not mean that you neglect the hard and tumultuous situations that are on your path, but rather it leads your spirit to not be defined by them. When life is hitting you with every assailing arrow and you are able to not become embittered by life, then it begins to cultivate an appreciation that life still holds a place of goodness and celebration within it as well. It is a space where you are able to take your knowledge of your daily moments and give power to the places that build you up and give you opportunity of standing on teachable ground, through the hard and in the good. Even within the grieving and the hard times comes an opportunity to be standing in places that gift you with character-building strength.
Thank you, 2020, that despite what has been
Grieving,
Uncertainty,
Stretching,
Stripping,
Saddening,
And frightening,
For gifting us with
Perspective of today,
Reflection of yesterday,
And visions of our tomorrows.
Thank you for how the hard times built in us a
Sharpening mind ready to advocate,
Community aimed for diversity,
And a dialogue of inner work ready to make decisions in the unknown.
2020, you may have brought us a stripping of our normal, but you have also ushered in a deep acknowledgement of knowing how our presence in this world matters…
And that the way we show others we care is everything.
