2021 the year of…
A post about random thoughts.
Think back to December 31st 2019.
What were you doing?
What were you thinking 2020 would bring you?
What were your goals and aspiration for the year of 2020?
My thoughts about 2020 in December of 2019 were a lot different than my thoughts about 2020 in July of 2020 and I’ll assume the same was true for you.
December thoughts were about the excitement of the first year of marriage, going into our third year of business and the possibility of starting to look at houses. Fast forward to today and I don’t feel like I’ll be in the fetal position anymore through the rest of the year, but it is only the 28th of December so I’m still open to the possibility.
Always be open to the possibility of crawling into the fetal position. That’s one of the things I’ve learned thought 2020.
For me 2020 has been a lot about growth, growth of gray hairs, growth of ear hairs and forced mental growth.
Below are some of the conclusions that I came to throughout this years and my thoughts moving forward.
Uncertainty is the omnipresent bully stalking the playground of the mind. However, this isn’t a bully that we can run to tell the teacher on. It isn’t a bully that will someday go away. Uncertainty is a part of life and when life gets rough that bully likes to stalk you, tap on your shoulder and remind you he’s there to hit you in the face.
Rather than trying to fight the uncertainty, embrace it. As Benjamin Franklin stated, “…nothing is certain except death and taxes.” That means everything else is uncertain. In 2020 a lot was uncertain and a lot remains uncertain. As 2021 approaches we all obviously want a better, easier, more normal 2021, but there is no guarantee that is going to happen. So embrace the uncertainty and work to live more in the moment. Goals are great, ambitions are great, resolutions, ideas, all great things but if we constantly seek the future we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy the present. If we focus on the uncertainty, put all our attention on the bully, the bully rules the playground of the mind and doesn’t let us enjoy the little simple things in life.
For me trying to embrace the uncertainty has not been easy, as I don’t think its easy for anyone. For me a huge help has been a gratitude journal and starting each day writing three things I am grateful for. The second has been meditating through the Headspace App. I know I’ve mentioned Headspace before but for my mental health it has definitely been worth it.
Don’t Let Go
Of your dreams, your goals, your aspirations, hope. 2020 might have had the feeling of holding onto the ledge of a cliff and sometimes it might have felt easiest to let go, but if you’re reading this you’ve made it through 2020. Hopefully a year like none other, one that we will not have to experience again. I’m not saying 2021 will be easier because as you know that’s uncertain. What I am saying though is you got through 2020 and I would venture to guess 2021 will be better, who knows, but I hope it will. I’m not going to let go of that hope for you, for myself and I’m also going to embrace the uncertainty as I think you should too.
Don’t let go and embrace the uncertainty.
Control the Controllable
Control the Controllable.
You can control what you eat. You can control how you treat others. You can control how you speak to others. You can control your movement. You can control some things and not others. So control what you can control. We don’t have control over a lot, but controlling what you can control can bring some much needed peace of mind, structure and stability.