Happy New Year!!
As 2021 is now here, many are excited to put 2020 behind us. It was a rough one, a one in one hundred year that no one would ever wish for. Full of excitement for the new decade, 2020 failed to deliver in the manner anticipated by many. But did everything really change on the 1st, or was it merely our attitudes that began to rebound?
I believe it is a little bit of both. But as opposed to focusing on what is different between today and yesterday I want to take the time to explore what the past year has made me thankful for.
I am thankful for the time I have had to reflect on my life.
I am thankful I have been able to break what felt like unbreakable habits.
I am thankful for you. If you are reading this, know I appreciate you for who you are, even if we have never met.
I am thankful for the friendships I have, now more than ever. Being distanced from one and other in the physical sense, many of those have grown stronger due to long conversations we would not have had the time or space for in a more normal year.
While working from home is what I do, this year was the first time I have done it in unison with another. I am thankful for the lessons it has taught me, and the time it has allowed me to spend with my wife. We used try to lunch together once a week, but it was often reprioritized around other more trivially urgent matters. In the past year, we have had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together almost everyday. It feels like a movie taking place in a time when that was normal, and honestly that is pretty fucking rad - nothing is better than sharing a meal with those you love.
I am thankful that those I love dearest have had their health and stayed safe during all of this.
I am most thankful of all for being taught how little is actually in my control. It has been a constant reminder that the only thing in my power is how I react to what happens around me.
Maybe like you, I am someone that wants to be in control of the things that happen to me. Each day I strive to eat healthy, exercise, sleep well, and attempt to grow spiritually through thankfulness. I am not always successful, some days going 0/4. Regardless of my wins or losses, I wake each day with a renewed sense of commitment to the ideals I strive towards. Harder than it sounds, but I do my best.
So today I am going to make a healthy meal, exercise, meditate on the many things I am thankful for, and get to bed on time ready to do it all again tomorrow. Maybe with a little work in between :)
