Saying farewell to 2020— a year gone, but never forgotten.
I woke up this morning not feeling great—how fitting for the last day of 2020. Much like the year we will soon put behind us, I really didn’t see a point in salvaging what I thought would be a waste of a day.
The notion that 2020 was a wasted year is one that was thrown around quite liberally. We faced challenges and life changes that no one could have forseen, like being mandated to stay in our homes, wearing masks in public spaces, hugging becoming somewhat of a foreign action, and social justice issues, all of which touched the four corners of the earth. No one was able to escape the inevitability of reality. Our new normal. And while I understand that I come from a place from great privilege when I say this, I would like to humbly refute the claim that 2020 was a wasted year. In fact, it gave me things I would have never been able to experience or appreciate had it not been for these “unprecedented times.”
2020 granted me with an undisturbed amount of time with my family that only a mandated lockdown would have given us. Never in any of our lifetimes would we have been able to spend six weeks uninterrupted by the daily stresses of life, because there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. So we tried to make the most of our time together; we watched movies, talked for hours, and as the weather got warmer, began a ritual of dining outside and making homemade pizzas on Saturday nights. Although not every moment was a daydream, in hindsight it was a time that I will always appreciate.
2020 also opened my eyes to truly appreciating the very few times I got to physically be with my friends. As some of you may know, during the summer months Montreal eased up the Covid restrictions due to fewer cases, which allowed us to be able to gather with in small groups. Although all of the 2 gatherings I participated in were held outdoors and with the same two people, I look back on those occasions with such fondness, knowing I savoured every moment with my best friends because at any moment, gatherings could once again become prohibited.
2020 gave me increased appreciation for the things I would have otherwise truly overlooked. Not only was I blessed to wake up to a new day healthy and safe, I woke up surrounded by a family who was also healthy and safe. I was blessed to wake up to yet another day, healthy and safe. family was safe and healthy as well. The fact that I had a job to return to when it was safe to, but also the fact that even when I wasn’t working at my regular job, I still had a stream of income I could rely on. I had a roof over my head, food on my table, and love in my home of which my parents bountifully provided for me. I now see all these things as major blessings rather than things I simply always took for granted.
2020 granted me the time to work on my body and my health so I could get to a place where I felt strong and healthy. Before 2020, I would go through several week bouts of unproductive exercise, unrealistic, and slightly restrictive eating habits, both of which were not sustainable and never yielded results. But at the beginning of this year, I really was not happy with the way I looked, but more importantly the way I felt. So I embarked on my health and fitness journey, found a routine that worked for me as well as a way of eating that was actually sustainable. Above all, I found a true love for exercising and healthy eating, although I do love a lazy day and junk food as much as the next person, I just found a healthy balance between the two.
Most importantly, 2020 taught me that life is precious and that we need to savour every moment we have. Nothing is as real as the present, and tomorrow is never guaranteed. In a pre-Covid world, we were always so focused on the next moment, our plans for tomorrow, my future— so much so, that I hadn’t even processed what I wanted or was actually ready and capable of handling in my life. This year stripped me back and forced me to analyze my life in its entirety. It allowed me to realign with my core values like my faith, of which my entire life and beliefs are based upon, and my family. It gave me clarity. I now know what and who is important to me, something I would have gone long without knowing had 2020 not forced me to stop, think, and reflect.
If you're reading this, I write this to you on the eve of the same day this letter began, except I'm feeling much better (nothing a hot shower and a few Tylenols can't fix) with a belly full of takeout and waiting on dessert— Just this morning I was contemplating as to whether or not I should have gotten out of bed.
We may not start off 2021 feeling great or in the most ideal of circumstances. After all, nothing will change once the clock strikes midnight. But just because something starts of bad, doesn't mean it's not worth saving.
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