As we prepare for a new year, it is time to reflect on the past year and for many of us try to forget what happened!! In Australia there have been many bad things happen this year on top of the pandemic, including catastrophic fires, floods and drought. But if we just focus on all the bad things we will get off to a very bad start for 2021. Next year will not be some magically great year – we need to reflect on 2020, take the lessons we learned and use them to help kick start 2021. In a previous post I shared the first outcome of my own reflection i.e. Lesson #1 Be resourceful. Here is Lesson #2.
Lesson # 2 Look for the positives
I am guessing that there are many people who can find no positives when they reflect on 2020. I am in a very privileged position in that I live in Australia where the COVID-19 cases are very low, but there was a time earlier this year when we feared the worst. But regardless of the level of disease, our lives have been changed and our freedoms curtailed and we found ourselves having to take careful precautions such as mask wearing and social distancing just as people everywhere must.
I must admit in early 2020 I was very upset and anxious about the situation. We were supposed to be travelling overseas and getting ready for retirement and there was uncertainty for weeks before we had to cancel all our plans. We were also fearful for our own health and that of our family. I really did tend towards the negative for a while there but pulled myself up and decided that we just had to make the best of things.
So, now it is time for reflection again and time to dig deep to find the positives to help us plan for 2021.
Here are some of the things we couldn’t do in 2020 and the positives that came out of those negatives:
| Negatives of 2020 | Positive Outcomes |
| No outings to coffee shops. | We saved so much money by making coffee at home! |
| No lunches or dinners in pubs or restaurants. | We made our own pub food and had fun creating new recipes! |
| Stuck in our own suburb. | We rediscovered the ‘park’ in our own backyard and had outdoor lunches! |
| Had to stay home a lot. | We started gardening and planted lots of colour! |
| Couldn’t go to yoga. | Created a home yoga studio and now do online yoga everyday! |
| A bit bored at home. | Volunteered to make and distribute face masks across the country – met lots of wonderful people and kept busy for months. |
| Couldn’t travel overseas. | Planned some great family holidays locally. |
Kick-starting 2021
So how will I use this lesson to help kickstart 2021? I think it will be easier to move into 2021 than it was to accept the deprivations of 2020 because I have lowered my expectations of what I will and won’t be able to do for the next little while. I’m ok with that – the most important thing is to stay safe and busy!
I really hope that I can continue some of the new habits and practices that I started this year. I also hope to spend more time outdoors.
We purchased a 12 month National Parks pass so we can visit parks on our drives and walks each week.
We will also plan local holidays, do some renovations on our house and look for new volunteering opportunities.
What can you do to Kick Start 2021?
Perhaps you can make a table like mine above, and think about the good things that have come out of the changes in your life during 2020. Give it a try!
We wish you and your family a Happy and Healthy 2021!
We hope you will join us at Helpful by Nature by subscribing to our email list. We would love to hear from you, take your questions and provide answers if we are able.
Until next time,
Gillian (and Andrew)
