2020 Pressure

Tis the season of thankfulness and good cheer, right? Some might stare at me like where have you been these last 9 months. What do we have to be thankful for when you have people who are at this moment taking their last breath, people who are struggling for food and finances, and having a hard time finding positivity in such a bleak world. It was the realization that there are other countries and areas of the world who live with this type of devastation daily that made me sit down and declare that things could be worse. To simply put in the words of Dr. Seuss “You ought to be thankful a whole heaping lot, for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not”. I made a promise to myself that not only would I be more grateful for the life and opportunities around me but also that I would start helping the world around me as well. So, to continue forward with my first promise. Here are my top 3 reasons to be thankful in 2020.

1. Kindness

If you’ve ever watched the movie Pollyanna directed by David Swift, then you would understand that its almost infectious when a good kindhearted person comes along and makes you look at things in a different light. When you’re busy focusing on the dark corners closing in; they’re the ones beaming in the middle of your room reminding you of all the little great things that have been hidden in the darkness. So, to all the kind strangers out there who are kind even when you are dealing with the worst kind of attitudes, thank you and keep smiling. You may never know just how many lives you’ve saved. I find it so inspiring and life changing when there’s a break from negative news; such as COVID-19 deaths, criminal injustice, rioting, and hatred; to put a spotlight on the young man that paid for a families grocery’s because the mother was short, the employees who are kindly and respectfully apologizing when rude customers are yelling and screaming in their faces about not wanting to wear masks, the stories of mystery donators paying the utility bills of their struggling neighbors, and hundreds of other stories about people ignoring the negativity surrounding them and shining their inner light.

2. New beginnings

While I along with many others have had to or have been forced to leave previous jobs; I’m thankful for the opportunity of new beginnings. Whether it was because of being laid off, needing to be home to educate your little ones, or just for personal preference; either way letting go of your comfortability is hard. Going from knowing what you would have had in your account on payday to hoping the odd jobs you pick up would be worth the payout is a huge change. The year 2020 has taught me that the end of one thing paves the way for a new beginning for another. At the beginning of this nut fest of a year if someone had told me that I would be working from home doing my dream job of self-publishing I would have laughed them out of my face. For years I let work, sports, kids’ activities, and just life in general stop me from chasing my dreams. I got comfortable where I was and instead of doing what I loved I kept running towards what paid the bills. Now, ever since many jobs being offered can be done from home and the kiddos are doing distance education, I have more time than ever to write. Add to the fact that there are also more people with patience and time to help me through the process of it all, it almost seems like the perfect storm. People around the world are using this time to chase their dreams and honestly it seems like it’s a lot easier to run now that the world has just about stopped around us. Now we can see the obstacles in front of us, so we have enough time to maneuver around them instead of them coming at full speed. Now, when there is a setback, we have the patience and time to go back at it again without giving up.

3. Friends & Family

2020 has done the test of time on all types of relationships. Friends that I’ve known for years have disappeared and family has fell into a routine of “hope all is well” texts and “where can I find toilet paper”. In all of that, there has been some true jewels in my life who have stuck and have helped in a way that I don’t think I can ever repay. When COVID-19 first hit, and shutdowns started happening it was friends and family who stepped up to watch my kids when I was working long hours as an essential worker. When I first left my job and was struggling to get by it was them who helped with bills and even bought groceries to help even while they were struggling themselves. Its at times like these when my heart is full, and my eyes are leaking that I know the world will never go back from this. It will never go back to the self-centered, money hungry, spoiled ways that existed before COVID-19 made its appearance. Lives and hearts are changing around us and it won’t be until all this pressure starts making beautiful diamonds before anyone stops to realize how big of a blessing it was.