Lessons Learned in 2020 – Excelling in 2021
2020 was a year unlike any other.
For those of us lucky enough to live a life void of memories of war, famine, and suffering – this may have been one of our biggest trials to date. And considering in comparison, that this trial had us planted on our couches and finding new ways to avoid social gatherings and order online – we could have done a lot worse.
Providing we heeded advise given by the medical experts, we played it safe, down scaled our lives, and lived peacefully and comfortably in our homes.
On the other side, once we’ve tapped out of Netflix options and had our fill of having things dropped off on our porches – we consider the things we’re missing out on.
Family. Hugs. School. Work place. Vacations.
I think its fair to say a lot of us would love to toss our snow shovels aside in a heart beat to hit up the beach on an extended family vacation.
But as we creep towards one year of quarantining, lock down, and social distancing… what lessons has this past year brought to us?
To start, we learned from Joe Exotic that we shouldn’t keep tigers as pets.
We learned that toilet paper is a hot commodity but we also learned to share and only buy what we need.
We learned that we could buy bread – or if we were able to get our hands on yeast and flour – we could bake our own.
For those of us that were extra determined, we learned hard lessons in sour dough baking and some of us even got to reap the rewards.
We learned that some jobs really can be done from home, and in some cases, the costs of commuting could be applied to other things. If nothing else, extra time spent with family.
We learned the value of multitasking and acknowledging how rough (or not so rough) our significant others really have it in their jobs.
We’ve learned to be teachers as well as parents.
We developed our own curriculum and have been teaching our children things they may not otherwise be learning in school right now.
Classic classes such as home economics, shop, and mechanics have all come back in full force.
We learned which local businesses we could really rely on, and which ones really needed our help.
We’ve shopped and supported our local economies more than ever before.
We’ve skipped dining out and replaced it with dining in.
We’ve learned the value of giving those around us a little bit of space as well as protection by wearing a mask – not just for ourselves, but for those around us.
The acts we do now do not just benefit us, but also others.
We’ve been doing the things we’ve done this past year for ourselves, our families, our friends, and our elders.
We’ve been conscious of those who may be immunocompromised, or those that have under lying health conditions and have made choices to help keep them protected.
We’ve learned to plan. Only going out when necessary and trying to get as much as we can in one trip, to avoid multiple stops if possible.
We’ve learned the value of opinions. Everyone has them, and while we may not always agree – we need to support one another to make it through.
In the past week we’ve seen that no matter what race, gender, or background you come from – you are capable of doing great things if you put your mind to it.
We’ve embraced the value of love, community, service, and family.
While we’re still not through this, the lessons we have learned in the past year are here to help us through 2021.
Whether it be baking bread, doing puzzles, or binge watching Netflix – we can do this.
Guest Blogger Rayna Davies
Rayna Davies is a graduate and practitioner of Business Management. She has developed an expertise in blogging, covering subjects like travel, world events and security. Having grown up with a father who has developed an expertise in Physical Security and Executive Protection in the RCMP and two major corporations, she has personally observed and experienced many security details. These experiences have included personally meeting HM Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Jean Chretien and many celebrities. She presently assists Sentinel Security in Executive Protection workshops and guest blogging and also assists Gloprosec Preventative Services in Intelligence gathering and Business Administration. Her passions include World travel, having visited every continent.
