It’s the Year End! Gosh 2020 was one helluva ride for all of us. This pandemic has really turned all of our lives upside down in so many ways.

Many of us have ourselves or known people who have lost their jobs, their loved ones and have had big life plans cancelled or put on hold.

We have all been struggling with new norms. Be it social distancing in restaurants, lockdowns, working from home, not being able to travel (a BIG one) and not seeing loved ones.

There’s much uncertainty and greyness as we look to the future. We do not yet know what it holds and everything seems so temporary and transient.

Despite its many downs, there also has been new opportunities for so many of us. As we look back on the awful year that was 2020, we also celebrate how far we have come as a human race and as individuals, and we celebrate all the positivity and silver linings that have come through in our lives.

Looking back at 2020, here are a couple of things I’ve learnt about myself:

Resilience is not about withstanding stress and taking crap

When the pandemic began, I think most of us were rejoicing that we got to work from home and enjoy the flexibility that came with it. But many others (including myself) started to realise that this wasn’t all good news.

With some employers, flexibility meant piling you with more work and with the freezing hires and retrenchment, those that were left behind were made to do more for less. When I experienced a higher work volume, I thought it would end – but no. It has been increasing.

And although I’ve gritted my teeth and looked forward to various things in my day or week to perk me up, sometimes when something gets too unbeareable, you’ve gotta admit it to yourself and find ways to get around the situation.

A lot of literature around resilience talks about surviving and thriving during setbacks and “coming back” stronger than ever. I feel that this sometimes builds up the wrong notions about withstanding unnecessary stress and taking on burdens that you shouldn’t be taking on.

I reflect on the following in the podcast as well:

1. My newfound confidence
2. Shedding my old self-image: socialising is fun!
3. Breaking bad romantic habits from the past
4. Celebrating the past (20s) and looking forward

In 2021 I want to:

Being more generous with the way I spend my money

Anyone knows me in real-life knows that I am quite tight-fisted with money. I do not spend much and am an underbuyer. This has always led me to feeling quite irritated whenever I have to pay large bills or when I have to buy something absolutely necessary. I even find it difficult to treat myself sometimes.

I don’t like this sense of dread and miserly-ness being so conservative with money actually makes me feel. So, this year! I shall be more generous – with others, with myself and in just how I approach money.

I always believe that like begets like and if one approaches money with an abundant mindset, it opens the doors for more abundance to flow in as well.

Here are the other things I look forward to in 2021 and talk more on the podcast:

1. Show more compassion and kindness to myself and others
2. Socialise more and form new interest groups
3. Surrender to the process and let go of my control and fears
4. Indulging more in my hobbies

How has your year been for you? And what are you looking forward to in 2021?

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We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. This book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.

Edith Lovejoy Pearce