2020 was full of lessons and experiences that were different for every single person. I had some moments of disorientation myself and today I am presenting you four of the countless lessons I’ve learned.
Four lessons from 2020
1. The equilibrium of life
I am more than sure everybody will say “In 2020 I had the chance to learn many things, from web development to gardening, anything. I was productive all day long.” My 2020 was not like that at all. Of course, I tried taking lessons and also a lot of things and new hobbies, such as photography, playing the guitar, exploring and screenwriting. But I had more downs than ups. But this is life. I know there cannot be just ups or just downs. Sunny days are incredible but the rain must fall so that flowers could grow. When there is too much good, something bad has to happen in order to restore balance. This is life.
2. The importance of family
I learned the hard way how important family is and how important it is to ask for support. Communication really is the key and 2020 reminded me of that. I still keep most of the things to myself and prefer to not tell anyone because I am often judged by my own family, but I encourage you to open up even if it hurts. Just knowing that you have somebody close can help a lot. Also, you can learn lots of lessons from your family.
3. The most important lesson – value yourself
I strongly believe the human body is the most complex machine that ever existed; which is able to do more than just nap. I spent days and weeks trying to figure out what to do with my life, asking myself if there truly is something in this world for me. I was looking at my friends and they were all moving forward and I was feeling stuck. Nothing felt right anymore and my days blended together until it was autumn and I realized that I didn’t remember most of the summer because I was on auto-pilot.
Just because I didn’t like the way I looked and because of some acne and body fat, I wasn’t able to enjoy anything without thinking “I look gross”, “I should probably go home”, “Boys don’t like acne”. And (almost) a year later, I am here to tell you that nobody cares. Nobody cares at all. Only you do. If a boy will fall in love with you he won’t mind your acne, because he likes you: your personality, humour etc. No one in this world criticizes you more than yourself.
So, please, stop caring so much about “what other people say”; because they say the same thing and nobody actually pays attention to the other one (apart from the profilers – beware them). Value yourself as you are!
4. Living for something – finding distractions
Doing something I really love and living for it was a little trick I learned last year. Whenever I felt nervous, I would do something I enjoyed and the anxiety would dissipate. Passions are significant, regardless of what others claim. When I spoke of my interests, people would simply silence me, and I believe this is why I never knew what to do with my future or which direction to take.
Try to find an activity that keeps you productive that you enjoy and make it a hobby. Start small. If you don’t nail it on the first try, you can come back and try again tomorrow. Practice, take lessons even, and you will eventually become a master at it. Take everything one step at a time and watch your progress.
