2020 has been an overwhelming year and for better or for worse may have changed us all. The year gave me ample time to pause, reflect, and walk on an inward journey. It taught me the benefits of introspection while spending time with myself, which was quite a revelation.
This extraordinary circumstance has changed my perspectives on health, family, work, resilience and has truly provided me with the gift of learnable life lessons.
Penning down a few of the 10 major lessons I learned in 2020 here.
#1 Prayer changes everything!
Prayer granted me a great source of strength, faith, and courage to fight the doubt and fear within my mind.
#2 Health is the most irreplaceable and valuable asset
Health is not just about physical fitness but our mental, social, and spiritual well-being too. Along with this, COVID-19 certainly made me (and all of us) realize that immunity is our first and last line of defense. So we must invest in it well!
#3 Family is paramount
It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters. ‘Family’ can mean a strong support network, your spouse, your parents, or any group you choose but family is paramount above all. For me, it was an absolute pleasure catching up on Zoom calls with long lost family and friends all across the globe and rekindling old bonds.
#4 Fear is dangerous
Fear forces us to NOT think. We as humans usually have assumptions about everything, so this fear usually forces us to believe in those assumptions without much criticality. The solution which I found is to have the courage to accept even the worst of things that could happen and live in the moment instead.
#5 Invest in your personal growth
It’s never too late to follow your passion, learn a new skill, or start a new career.
I constructively used my time to get certifications I had been putting on hold, lost 10 pounds, and worked on my nutrition practice too. And am now working actively towards inspiring people who need guidance to add wellness and hope into their lives!
#6 I don’t need most of the things I have or craved for!
In life, we don’t need many things. We are usually over-consuming. Last year made me realize, didn’t we survive the lockdown with just basic necessities? Instead of spending so much on materialistic things, try investing in yourself, your experiences, and your relationships. True happiness lies in the things we do, not in the things we own. Simple living and high thinking should be the mantra.
#7 Hardships are lessons in disguise!
Sometimes some bad instances in life open up our eyes to the good around us that we probably did not notice before. I learned to train my mind to see the good in every situation.
We only have control over three things in life – the thoughts we think, the images we visualize, and the actions we choose to take.
#8 Stop wasting food
Eat everything. Remember your parents telling you to clear your plate? There was a reason. Food is a fundamental human right however there are still many out there that don’t have that luxury so let’s not exploit the privilege we do have.
#9 The number of things we take for granted in life, including life itself
The amount of loss we’ve seen last year has been truly unprecedented. We’ve seen record amounts of death. We’ve seen mass layoffs. We’ve also lost things that were more personal to us like close human interaction with people we love. Last year has been a great reminder to always be grateful for the small blessings that we have but tend to overlook as we get them for free.
#10 Self-care is a priority, not a privilege
Last but not the least, self-care is such an effective tool to reduce stress and manage our wellbeing. I used it to the maximum to maintain my mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health to pull myself through the lockdown.
We can’t control the stressful situations around us, but we can choose to make an effort to maintain our inner peace by directing our attention to something peaceful and calm by indulging in some self-love in the form of gentle yoga, meditation, journaling, dancing, practicing positive affirmations, reading a book or even just soaking ourselves in a nice hot bubble bath.
So as the saying goes, you truly do have to nourish to flourish.
Let’s cherish all that’s good in life and stop complaining! We have loads of blessings around us; we just choose to ignore them.
These are the incredible lessons I learned through 2020.
What is your story?
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Jumana Broachwala is a certified holistic healer at RachnaRestores and you can find more details about her HERE. For more such articles and content on health & wellness, don’t forget to follow us!
Very good writeup. Meaningful and amazingly helpful. Well written.