I read my post for last year’s 2020 New Year Intention and was shocked by its prescient nature. How did I know that the universe would take my goal seriously and put it to the test? Some of the words and phrases made me wonder if I wrote this after the pandemic started.
”So much of life is outside of our control…being intentional…letting go…choosing how to react…accepting and embracing the path that unfolds.”
As I reflect back on the year, my intention must have seeped into my subconscious and helped me ride the roller coaster ride that was 2020.
2020 is not a lost year
I think if I have anything to say about 2020 is that it is not a lost year as so many people want to call it. It’s tempting to want to get rid of all the hard stuff – toss it to the curb like a piece of garbage. But what is that saying, “one person’s junk is another’s treasure”? Or “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” We determine if it’s junk or treasure; ugly or beautiful.
I know I’ve experienced some junk and ugliness and chose to ignore and throw away those moments. Who wants to dwell on the hard times? But in recent years I’ve decided to re-write my story and turn the junk into treasure. I see more clearly that it is BECAUSE of the challenges and setbacks that I find myself on a new career path with an entirely new purpose.
All of the major turning points of my life included suffering and pain and loss and change. In those dark times, a new light eventually appeared. The hard revealed the new.
2020 was apocalyptic
Some people tossed around the word apocalypse to describe the events of the past year, wondering if we were on a path of destruction. As I looked closer at the origin of that word, I believe those apocalyptic prophets may be onto something. The original Greek meaning of apocalypse is revelation or unveiling. Isn’t the apocalyptic New Testament book called the Book of Revelations?
Maybe 2020 is revealing and unveiling a new way forward, just as every major challenge in my own life seemed to do. Maybe the pandemic, social unrest and economic volatility is pointing a new way forward and is not a sign of our total destruction as a people.
If we choose to see it that way. If we choose to see the treasure and the beauty in the junk.
Hardship is often the first step towards growth. Change is not easy, and involves loss and anger and denial and bargaining. Many of the same steps outlined by Kübler-Ross in the stages of grief. While not linear and neat, the final step is acceptance and moving on. We will come out on the other side.
We lost a lot this year and we have much to grieve. I believe we also have reason to hope that the losses and the stripping away of our old identity is clearing a new path – unveiling and revealing a new way forward.
I know I learned a lot this year. What did 2020 unveil to you? How will you use that revelation to shape your 2021?
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