To a new year…

I feel it’s an understatement to say that 2020 sucked. It was hard for a lot of people. People lost their jobs, suffered financially, were forced indoors, and lost time with family and friends. More importantly, people lost loved ones.

Our lives were completely disrupted by not just a virus, but also politics, riots, and so on. 2020 has really shaken us up.

On the other side, though, 2020 has brought some families closer. It’s allowed moms and dads to have more time at home with their children. It’s allowed people that used to slave all day at work to be at home and not as stressed (hopefully). 2020 has opened people’s eyes and hearts to how quickly things can change. In an instant, your world can flip. It can be shattered. So, I’m hoping for many of us, we’ve learned to be appreciative, to be kinder, and to have more compassion.

What was 2020 for you? A nightmare? A lesson? An opportunity? A combination of good and bad?

For me, 2020 was a lesson. My work didn’t change. I continued going to the office every day, Monday thru Friday. I was already a homebody prior to Covid, so that part didn’t change much either. I was more than happy to oblige. I was able to spend more time with my little family, but had less time with my extended family. I lost my grandmother. Not to the virus, but the virus kept us away from her during her last days. Our new home has been repeatedly put on hold, when we were supposed to be in it before the holidays.

I’ve watched loved ones suffer – battle day and night, work tirelessly long hours tending to the sick. I’ve seen friends and family lose those they’re closest to. It’s heartbreaking. You feel so helpless.

I’ve prayed more than I probably have my entire life. I’ve also questioned a lot more. And not only with the pandemic. The riots I witnessed from afar, destroyed businesses, good people fighting good people. At times, it felt like it was more than I could handle. More than any of us could handle.

2020 was a year for the books. The good and the bad. If nothing else, I hope you used the year to learn and grow. I hope you’ve come out on top as 2021 takes off. I pray for a year of positivity, love, and new beginnings. I pray for healing for the sick, for the hurting, and for our country. I pray for change that I’m certain we all need.

Here’s to 2021… may it be better, may we be better. ❤