OPINION PIECE - It really has been one helluva year. 2020 has not been for the faint-hearted.
Yet, here we are merely a week away from the next year on the Gregorian Calendar - we've made it! Now, it's time to reflect and learn.
I know it's been a while since I last opened my mouth spewing mumbo jumbo to our readers, but I figured it might be time I make a quick reappearance before we end off this year for good. There really is no mistaking it, 2020 has been tough. Over and above the challenges faced by national and global society, we have all faced countless personal challenges, some of which may have gotten the better of us at the time.
But yet, you're still here, reading this. That's an achievement in its own right.
However, I still think we might be negligent if we did not reflect on 2020 and look out for some lessons in amongst all the chaos.
Every year, a handful of countries observe a holiday known as Thanksgiving, and while there are various means of observance and celebration, the common theme is, essentially, to give thanks for all we are grateful for. This is something I can definitely get behind. I don't know about you, but I find this principle so pure, so precious in modern society.
We are constantly bombarded with all the bad, the ugly, the negative things in life, and never given the chance to sit back and reflect, to realise what we have, and what we are grateful for. Oddly enough, this is something good that I took out of lockdown earlier this year. I was locked down alone, and much like it would've been for my counterparts in the same situation, lockdown was hard on my own. I went through many a mental battle, but eventually I emerged a far stronger person. I was only able to do this because I afforded myself the chance to be grateful.
I took time to sit back, to lay all my cards on the table, and to only shed light on the ones that showed a positive reflection.
I implore everybody to do the same for the past year. Before you blanket 2020 as undeniably terrible, just take a moment to sit back and evaluate what has truly come and gone.
To see what there is to be thankful for. It might take a bit of effort, but I promise you, the positives are there - be it that you learned more about yourself, or that you learned better financial responsibility, or that you rediscovered your love for your family.
The positives are there, lying in wait to be discovered, like a long-lost city in the Amazon rainforest. Don your best khaki attire and become the explorer that discovers what there is to be grateful for in your year, because nobody else will.
