By Chris Wilkinson
Wow! What a year!? The year 2020 has been strange! Something we will never forget. Some would say ‘worst year ever’.
How many of us are just waiting for Dec. 31 so we can flush the year away? Wipe the slate clean. Start fresh.
Well, before we sigh and say yep, flush it away, we really ought to sit back for a minute and ask ourselves, “Is how I am labeling 2020 serving me as I move forward?”
Sorry friends. This is a classic ‘glass half full’ vs. ‘glass half empty’ example. You probably don’t want to hear this and you may even stop reading right here… if you are labeling 2020 as a terrible year with nothing good about it and just want to move on, you’re most likely ’empty glassing’ it. You’re choosing to do what so many of us have learned to do so well — allow our brain’s negative bias to take over and win.
Instead, be open minded for a moment and ask yourself the following questions. And answer them!
What about 2020 made me stronger? What about 2020 will I take forward as learnings? What did 2020 make me get better at? What doors closed, that allowed new doors to open in 2020? What did I learn about myself in 2020 that I would not have otherwise learned? What am I grateful for about 2020?
Now isn’t that interesting how six questions can turn our perspective around? Even turn an entire year around? If we allow it to. I am not saying 2020 was a great year; not at all. This isn’t about good vs. bad. Wrong vs. right. Only cause and effect.
Will you accept that our mindset (“lenses”) dictate how we label events in our memory bank? Therefore, if we try real hard, with focus, and intentionally look for the positive things that came out of this challenging year — things that would have never come about in a ‘normal’ year — this year has been remarkable. Special. In a certain light, a growth year.
I told myself last December that 2020 would be the year of ‘clarity’. Finding a clearer way forward. It certainly didn’t happen the way that anyone could have predicted. But it sure did help me find clarity. I hope 2020 has clarified some things in your life too. Maybe we can find a way to look back on 2020 and thank it for bringing learning and growth. Thank you for that 2020, but don’t come back anytime soon.
Chris Wilkinson is the owner/GM for Nurse Next Door Home Care Services for Cowichan and central Vancouver Island. For more info visit www.NurseNextDoor.com or for questions or a free in-home Caring Consult call 250-748-4357, or email Chris.Wilkinson@NurseNextDoor.com
