The year 2020, more than ever, needs our gratitude for all the life-lessons it taught us especially about getting better not bitter. And I have nothing but gratitude for all the blessings and the silver linings over the months.
2020 has had more blursdays than I care to remember. (Yup, that's my new day of the week)
But I do I believe this year made me stronger. I choose to count my blessings -because this is how I wish to remember the year gone by rather than whine about what might have been. I prefer to appreciate what actually was!
Getting better not bitter - with gratitude
This is something I miss very much. I think this is the longest stretch I've gone without going anywhere. I am glad 2020 started off with a bang for me - with travel. I was able to attend my uncle's 80th birthday celebrations in Chennai. This was followed by a trip to Mohali for a week to my son's campus, enjoying winter and the campus life.
And then, a couple of weeks later, I had the most fabulous road trip to Agra with my college classmate-we met after almost 35 years. And I did not even unpack after I got back home, because we were off again to Chandigarh for a week! So many wonderful memories to treasure and cherish with people I love. In the middle of all this, we did celebrate our wedding anniversary,
Time with son
In the first weekend of March, our son came home for a week's break. Little did we know that he would not be able to return to campus. Thus, started the long, long lockdown. I am grateful he was home safe with us, and that we were all together.
Important milestones
In the middle of all this, our son graduated and is now an MS. He also started his PhD classes. He can't travel abroad now, but his University kindly allowed him to attend classes remotely, so that's a big blessing. We are also very happy that we were together for all our birthdays, something that hasn't happened for five years now!
The year gone by had me cooking - a LOT. I made no yeast bread for the first time. I made a no-oven whole wheat garlic bread as well that turned out fabulous. Then there were cakes, a ton of new recipes and so much fun experimenting. Also, we are happy, maybe even proud that we have not ordered food from outside for ten months now.
Fitness and health
Although I walk regularly, unexpected rains put a spanner in the works. And so, I enrolled in fitness classes in September with Janaki. I also turned a year younger and wiser. Also, I have better blood sugar levels. I am so grateful for the reasonably good health we have had so far.
Serious stuff
We filed our taxes. I don't know why, but this activity always drives me nuts even though I have a professional doing the actual work. Just getting the papers together freaks me out. And of course, I end up feeling sheepish at the end of it all. This year was no exception. Truth is, the CA is my friend and as we get the work done, we enjoy lunch together, chat a lot and have a really pleasant day.
The first half of the year was not great. Workflow dwindled to a zero and many payments were due. Everyone was feeling the pinch of the pandemic. I just practiced deep breathing because what could I do but wait? Around September things began to look up a bit and I hope that keeps up. Recovery has been hard. Keeping the faith, though. I kept myself busy by enrolling for some courses and educating myself.
Absolutely unrelated are some things I did on impulse. For one, I chopped off my hair one fine day. Really short. Oh, it has grown to the point I can tie it up again, but it was fun.
Better not bitter
Sure, we had our share of the usual repairs. It began with my specs breaking in March immediately after the lockdown started and I panicked. But did manage to get a new pair. Our appliances went on the blink, the lights went off and with shops closed and technicians off the grid, life did look uneasy but that too passed.
I also managed to have a nasty fall to round off the year but luckily did not break anything. Recovery was slow, but well, I wasn't rushing anywhere, was I?
The pandemic did not stop me from blogging, although I must say I have been slacking off a bit, thanks to being busy offline. Still, I did enjoy the April A to Z Challenge as usual.
Ah, and I celebrated blog anniversaries for both my health blog, which turned 12 and this blog, which turned sweet 17!
Oh, an announcement!
I will no longer send out email alerts every time I publish a post. Instead, I will send a chatty newsletter twice a month. If you haven't already, may I invite you to sign up?
Thank you! Now, just for fun, I did an A-Z of 2020 that I'd like to share with you!
- An accident where I did not break anything even if recovery took longer than I could have wished.
- Baked bread for the first time, Baked garlic bread, Baked cakes - a LOT! And? Better blood sugar levels, yay!
- Birthdays - Everyone was home for their birthday-I don't know when that will happen again so this is definitely memorable. Thank you 2020!
- Cooked a LOT!
- Delhi-Agra road trip and lots of dessert
- A lot. And Exercising with Janaki.
- Family at home. Oh, the bliss. Yes, really! I am just ignoring the annoying moments. Friends.
- Graduation of my son-who's now an MS and is doing is PhD. Is this the baby I just seem to have brought home?
- Home sweet home - so grateful
- Income tax filing done - what a relief
- Juggling the joy family at home, of no work and being offline and various jinxed stuff
- Kaleidoscope of good and not so great
- Lockdown life - I think we rocked it
- Masks are our new faces. More time-wasting.
- Nice neighbors. New routines, New normal.
- Okay with the routine now, okay with observing the trend, occasionally off balance but okay with that.
- Prime video - bingeing on crime and comedy shows. Oh, the bliss of bingeing!
- Questions, so many questions and some without answers
- Reading - lots and lots of books! I was in crime and serial killer heaven.
- Social distancing is our life now.
- Treats and plenty of those. See? Better not bitter.
- Unexpected bright spots and dim spots too.
- Vulnerable feeling but feeling victorious about many things. And of course, cherishing the value of life.
- Work dwindled, then picked up. Thank you 2020 for the down time that allowed me to do a lot of things I wouldn't otherwise have.
- Xocolatl - yes, for what of an X word. We did have chocolate.
- Yearlong learning - about self, about life, about people. Also realizing the importance of YOLO.
- Zoom calls galore! Video conferencing deserves an award for helping me keep in touch with family, friends, and clients. Also, Zen took a new meaning for me-I am proud of myself for staying calm through most shitty situations this year and that includes accidents, deaths, losses and more.
As I said, we had our share of silver linings, not the least of which were a comfortable home, food to eat and family together. As time goes by, isn't it great that we have to think really hard to remember the crappy stuff? We tend to remember the good things, usually.
Overall, I feel that we managed 2020 pretty well. It even had me seriously wondering if I do want to go back to what we knew as the "old normal". Just goes to show that we are adaptable to any situation that is thrown at us.
Whether 2021 is better or not, I am pretty sure we can handle it. Practicing gratitude means getting better not bitter. I wish you a healthy and joyful year ahead!How did 2020 go for you? Did you count your blessings?
Welcome to the December 2020 Gratitude Circle Blog Hop.
As always, please note: To join the Gratitude Circle blog hop, you can write about anything that made you feel good. It is not mandatory to write about your personal life. Or list personal things you are grateful for. You have the freedom to share anything that made you feel good. A happy event. Something you saw. An experience. A place. Something that brought you happiness. An uplifting book you read that filled you with joy. Anything. I repeat, it need not be personal at all. - Write your posts.
- Add the badge.
- Remember to link to my post to validate your entry to the linky.
- Add your post link to the linky below.
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