Welcoming 2021
Wow.
This is it. We’re hitting the home stretch of 2020. This interesting year is almost coming to an end. It’s been filled with adventures, some good, some most certainly questionable. Regardless, we’ll likely remember it for the rest of our lives. This one’s going down in the history books guys. Congrats, you officially lived through LOTS AND LOTS OF HISTORY.
We lived through one of the very few impeachment trials in the US, the death of Kobe Bryant and Chadwick Boseman, multiple Australian fires, and we can never forget the coronavirus pandemic that took the lives of millions.
It’s okay to feel negatively towards this year. It’s okay to wish it never happened. What’s not okay is to let it completely ruin the rest of your life too, starting with the beginning of 2021. Looking at the overwhelming negative side of this year… yeah, there are a lot. But as we welcome 2021, it’s also good to try and look at the positives, however small, of 2020.There was at least a couple of months or so where there was no quarantine. But maybe there are positives inside of quarantine too.
No, I’m not saying I enjoyed wearing a mask or being cooped up inside, but I definitely feel like my family grew closer together through quarantine. We were stuck inside with only each other and Netflix for company, sometimes together! I’m the type of person that enjoys school. You don’t realize how much time you spend there until you aren’t going there anymore. You also don’t realize how much time you spend away from your family, who literally live in the same house as you. Online school isn’t my cup of tea, but at least I got to laugh about it with my sister. I didn’t get to engage in all my clubs and afterschool activities, but at least I got to be there and watch my baby sister grow. Wifi issues are a pain, but at least I ate breakfast with my family. All I’m saying is, there’s always a light in the darkness if you know where to look. It isn’t healthy to completely put your life, hopes, and dreams on hold because of one bad year. Even if the events of this year are going to stretch indefinitely.
Yeah, the virus probably won’t end. At least not for a very long time. But now that we’re all a little bit familiar with it, at least we can take the right precautions.
Moving the focus subject to something a little more hopeful, we all obviously have goals we want to accomplish this coming year. Setting goals is one of the best ways to make things happen, however small or large they can be. I encourage you all to set goals on all the aspects in your life. Your mental health, physical health, small steps to reach your life goals….Make them realistic, and set small tasks you need to do to reach those goals. Yeah, this is commonly known as a new years resolution, but thinking of it like that can be scary. Like if you don’t complete all of that this year, you’re a failure. In my family, we write down our new year’s resolutions all together on separate pieces of paper, and we put away those papers to never see them again until next new year’s. But the things we write down are usually things that we can improve on easily, with a bit of teamwork. Like spending more time together and such. There are always other goals in the back of my mind that I know I want to do this year. Things you want to start, things you want to quit.
Thinking of new year’s resolutions like this list of things with a deadline of one year can be stressful and scary for some people. New year’s is just a good time to start blank, which is why a lot of goal setting happens during this time. Goals can obviously be set at any time at all, and it’s not a bad thing if you don’t meet those goals by next new year. At the same time, as you look at the goals you set at the beginning of 2020, don’t be discouraged if you see that you didn’t do everything you wanted to do. If something isn’t working out, maybe you set unrealistic goals for yourself. Or maybe, like a lot of people, this year wasn’t your year.
Besides setting goals and thinking positively this year, maybe you can look back at the lessons you learned through quarantine, and 2020 as a whole. Lessons you’re going to take with you for the rest of your life. Through waiting for zoom to load during online classes, maybe you learned the art of patience. Or maybe, through watching Trump meet his end, you learned hope. There’s always something you can learn from past events, however small.
2020 was a bad year for everyone. You are not alone, I promise. Whether or not you had someone close to you lost, everyone experienced one disappointment or another. It’s so easy to feel like there’s no use in having hope for 2021 because it feels like 2020 was so messed up, out of nowhere. But we can’t just anticipate the negative without looking forward to the positive. Don’t let the sad parts of 2020 make you feel like nothing good will ever happen again. I know I keep reiterating this in different ways, but that’s because it’s SO important, especially now.
Overall, look back at 2020 and look at the things you’re glad you did, the things you wish you didn’t do, and what you’re going to do with that information later.
In my bullet journal, I like to set a page with all my theme ideas for the coming months, all twelve of em. That way, when it comes to making calendars and pages in the future, I’m not stumped for ideas. Welcoming 2021 can be fun too. Redecorate your room, change your social media profiles, start a new diary, whatever makes you happy!
I probably wouldn’t have started my blog if it weren’t for quarantine. It’s one of the positives I’m clinging on to as I reflect on the glorious year of 2020.
I have a ton of good posts coming your way in 2021. Here’s a poll, answer for what should the first post in 2021 be?
This poll is no longer accepting votes
And, though I know you can find millions of these online, I’ve made a New Year’s Reflection template you can print and fill out.
See you next year! 😉
Hey Amany! Happy New Year! I really hope 2021 has a much better ending and results compared to that of 2020.
Yes, 2020 was one of the worst years ever for almost all of us.
For me, I had a few extras.
The bushfires over here in Australia were horrible, I watched through my TV screens, the horrible raging bushfires ripping through the tall eucalyptus trees, burning them down and striking at the innocent wildlife that was paying the price of human reckless behaviour. I was very lucky, I wasn’t in my area in Melbourne but other cities and states were definitely not lucky. What the bushfires actually showed me, was not the merciless sun beating down on the dessert-like environment over here, or simply someone really wicked lighting fires on purpose which was actually true. What I saw was the wretched climate change actively creating these bushfires. It was a little indirectly, but it was also pretty clear.
My grandpa died on January 18th, and I travelled all the way from Melbourne to India, to see my grandpa’s dead body inside an Ice-filled coffin to preserve the body temporarily for a whole night. It was dreadful, I actually never saw someone dead in reality, and I never wanted it to be my poor grandpa. But I knew this was coming, my whole family did. My grandpa had a nerve split in his brain in 2007 when he visited America. Luckily the doctors saved him but he was paralyzed for life. He stopped eating on my last visit to India, it was a happier one and that was the last time I saw my grandpa, with cold emotionless tears in his eyes. I am crying while I’m typing this. I really miss him, and he is the first loved one to pass away. That visit to India will never be a happy one.
Coronavirus was the biggest and most horrible thing that happened to all of us. This is one that everyone can relate to. The news on TV was some sort of thing where I would wait with anxiety then look at the huge list of cases coming in each day. I hated it so bad, I used to pray to God that the world would get better one day but of course, there are other plans for everyone. I missed out on school, just like you, I am a person that loves school. I simply felt trapped at home, even though I knew it was for our safety. I hated wearing masks, my breathing was slow and suffocated, especially since I have asthma. The only time I actually felt free was when I rode my bike on the beige footpath alongside a lake since I didn’t have to wear a mask.
Those were all the negative things that dagged this year down for me.
But I am glad that a spent some memorable and very special times with my family. Even though it felt like I was trapped inside four walls, I’m glad I had the four of us laughing together, talking about all the interesting things going on and watching old TV episodes, and since I am Hindu, we goofed and discusses quite some religious stuff about the Mahabharat and Ramayan. And being the nerd and the bookworm, I loved sharing all my researched knowledge to my family. And even though I found my sister incredibly annoying, I also shared a good bond with her and we have a few good times together.
Things were tough but also special. I’ve tried my best to be optimistic, and faithful in God. And so far things are working out! So I leave 2020 on a good note and warmly embrace 2021 with welcoming hands! I hope this year works out for you!
~Sharanya (SS)
Sharanya, I’m so happy you’re comfortable enough to share all this with me. My eyes are glossy with tears at your story. I’m sorry for your loss over your grandpa, and I’m sure everything with the fires must’ve been terrifying. I’m not gonna lie and say I get it, but I know you’ve probably come out stronger through everything. Thankfully I have not lost any family members through these tough times, and I’m infinitely grateful for that. A lot of my family lives in Lebanon, which was hit hard, but thankfully they are safe for now. Wearing a scarf, though not even close to your asthma, I can empathize with your mask problems. I have to tie it around or completely ruin my scarf, and half the time I can’t even see since it’s blocking my eyes, let alone breathe. Being stuck at home and feeling trapped is something I think the whole human race can relate to through this. Online school is also very miserable, as you’re only getting the downsides of the learning. No friends, lunch, or assemblies. The news is never a positive place, and through the virus(and the various other 2020 problems), it was definitely significantly worse.
We all definitely had quite a bad 2020, and most of us had our own personal problems too.
I hope my blog posts can bring you some positivity in this coming year! Sending lots of good hope your way.
Happy new year!
~Amany
Awww, Amany you are such a sweet person! Yes, I have. You are incredibly lucky! I’m so glad all of them are safe! Oh! It must be really hard to wear a scarf, and they are much thicker than those simple masks so it must be really difficult for you. Yes, I think everyone can. Although days can have lazy starts, it just didn’t feel like school or like actual learning.
Yes, 2020 has been very tough and a lot of stress was put on all of us.
Your blog definitely brings a lot of hope and happiness. Same to you!!!
A really really Happy New Year being sent to you, wherever you are in the world right now!
~SS