20 Reasons why I don’t hate 2020.

…there really have been so many silver linings for me and for my family.

Blogging is a really fun way for me to feel like I can connect with my readers, followers and friends. I never do it if it feels like a chore

If I am overwhelmed with admin work, if I have Mamas and my loved ones on every side of me needing support, or if I flat out have nothing motivating me to write, then I don’t; which is why there will be long stretches of time when I don’t have any blogs to share.  

This year has been, well, ridiculous. 

Over the last few years my I have felt smashed with personal trials and tricky circumstances to navigate.  Each year that has passed I have thought, OK, next year will be better than this for sure. I have been grateful for whatever lessons I received and looked forward to having a calmer, smoother year moving forward.

Then 2020 happened and it has been a challenge. However, for me, it has not been the same as the previous years because I have not felt like in myself I am going through something extraordinary but rather that the year itself simply is, as the facts show, challenging.

Covid is a beast!  Now I am NOT a political platformer and have no interest in having any great debate over who or what is right and wrong when it comes to the decisions that have been made by various organisations and political parties; I will however say that covid itself is quite the dictator and not one I wish to encourage.

So what has been the challenge for me? Why has this year been so ridiculous?

I am kind of smiling, almost laughing when I think about it.  

What is ridiculous to me is despite all the restriction frustrations we have faced, particularly here in Victoria, it’s that there really have been so many silver linings for me and for my family.

Now don’t get me wrong; I have a list as long as lock down of all the things I wish I could change right now, but I am choosing not to amplify those in this moment, instead, I want to share my list of good that has come out of 2020 so far, the things I am grateful for and why I don’t resent the year that has been. I hope that maybe it will encourage you to see your own list, or if you truly feel this has been a year of personal destruction, reach out and I can tell you more about my personal experience and why I have a peace about what comes next.

I am choosing not to amplify the negative things in this moment

20 Reasons why I don’t hate 2020.

1. We have been able to hang out more as a family without feeling like we have to ‘do something’ for it to be valuable or fun.  
2. I have witnessed my children adapt to something they had no time to prepare for and I am proud of how undramatic they have been about it. 
3. I completed a new qualification despite the obvious hurdles.
4. I have embarked on a new expansion of my business, opening a physical space to the community and it just gives me all the warm and fuzzies.
5. In the few weeks we had out of lockdown we were able to go to Bright, a place I have been hanging out to explore and it was just as beautiful as I had been imagining.
6. We went to the snow (I got the biggest air ever on the toboggan )
7. A friendship was renewed with someone I loved and had missed dearly.
8. My husband has revived his love for surfing and the release of happy endorphin bubbles he comes home with oozes on to me.
9. My niece got engaged and my daughter and I got to facetime dress shopping with her and it felt just as special as being there.
10. We finally have our names on a waiting list to get our long time yearned for Golden Retriever.
11. I have had time to stand still and figure out exactly what is working for us and where we want to head in the future.
12. We live in a beautiful part of the world
13. I am overcoming my fear of failure
14. I have still been able to share in some beautiful birthing experiences.
15. I have navigated some major obstacles in my business and it hasn’t crumbled in a heap
16. My husband is a teacher, he did not lose his job which allowed us to keep a steady income coming in, and I have watched him handle the challenges of  producing a remote learning curriculum like an absolute champion and that makes me exceptionally proud.
17. We paid off our debt and blitzed our credit cards in the Nutribullet. 
18. We found a wonderful OT for my son and the relief of having a plan of support for him feels like bricks have been lifted off my chest.
19. Winter didn’t feel so bad.
20. I still like my husband and I still like my kids and I even like myself somedays too.