Saying Happy Good-Bye to 2020!
For me, starting a new year was always difficult. Until the right before the New Year, I felt like there must be something exciting waiting for us as soon as the clock hits the midnight. But once the midnight ball drops, I know this is just another day of another year. This year, I am happy to start a new year and finally move on from 2020 as most of us feel relieved.
But since this year was so unusual, I thought I would attempt to wrap up the year 2020 for the record.
Downside
Forever the scene from “Groundhog day“ – Today is the same as yesterday, and tomorrow will be similar. Of course, there are small variations every day – different meetings, different virtual interaction… But more or less the same day. This was annoying, but probably easier part to deal with.
Guilt and regret – Since the pandemic hit us early this year, we consistently questioned ourselves how stupid this decision was and wish we could have set the time back to one year ago. For our brain, we knew this was pointless since we couldn’t have changed anything at this stage.. But our heart felt aches whenever we couldn’t be there for our son. This is probably the same experience even if we were back in the States and my son goes to the university. And probably same for a lot of people in the similar situations. This was one of the most difficult parts of pandemic for us.
Upsides
Having whole a lot of time with our dog, Milo – Milo totally got confused since we were home most of time, which never happened before. He became more attached to us and at the same time, comforting us when we really feel down. We become more attached to him as well.
Reducing food waste – Since we do not want to go shopping all the time, we used most of groceries we bought for a week. A few days ago, we realized that we were not throwing away too much food as we did before. I think this is positive for earth and our wallet. 🙂
Exercise routine with Nike training app – Since there were not a lot of things to do, regular exercises with Nike Training app was definitely a plus. I just got the achievement from the app (?) for 1 year mark with 17198 minutes and 582 workouts total. If you are looking for a good app, I can definitely recommend this. Link to Nike training app
Learning Dutch via app – Duolingo was definitely helpful for me to read Dutch. Okay, I am not able to speak Dutch much or understand the sentence. But now, when I see the signs on the street, I can pretty much understand what that means. Since the pandemic started, I used this app to practice Dutch for 15-20min in the morning when I make coffee. Now I am hitting 267 days straight ( 2 days missing between). This is one of the habits I would like to continue after the pandemic.
At last, but not the least, my partner for just being there for me – I think this is the most highlighted part. I appreciate my husband more and more for small things. During the normal time, this would have been unnoticed. Things like going shopping for us, giving me a haircut while tolerating all my complaints, small day trips together for German groceries to Achen, and countless small things he did for us without even thinking..
Looking back to the year 2020, I am glad that this year is not the total loss.. In fact, it is true that there are many things I am grateful for. But I hope that for all of us, 2021 will be the better year than 2020.
Wish you and your family all the best in 2021!