Wow what a year it has been.
While I can share some of the most challenging and toughest days, I find myself smiling at all of the wonderful moments I’ve had and despite the challenges.
I was able to make 2020 one of my best year yet due to the following insights and lessons which I’m sharing with the hope that you will also spend some time to reflect on your year as well and perhaps you will find many surprising lessons learned. These insights will be lessons that we can all choose to continue to apply to make the most of 2021.
But first of I want to thank you to all that have gone above and beyond their duties to make this year as best as it can be.
Thank you to all the frontline workers risking their lives to help those who need it most.
Thank you essential workers going about their daily jobs to ensure we have supplies, food and all basic necessities.
Thank you to all the educators for spending the extra time to learn a whole new way of teaching to ensure our children can continue their learning.
Thank you to the leaders in all industries, government bodies, businesses who stepped up to represent the little people who need immediate solutions.
Thank you to my own family and friends, mentors & coaches for supporting me through 2020 as it was a year of a lot of retrospection, digging deep, self reflection and reconnecting back with my passion and purpose.
I’ve decided to share my lessons in a Podcast I recently launched called Heart to Heart with Mai where you can also find other conversations between me and many ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things. Together, we share our journey & stories to empower one another but you can get so many golden nuggets and wisdom from these conversations as well so here’s the link to my 2020 – Year In Review Episode: http://bit.ly/3pEo8bU
Here is the recap of my lessons learned:
- Be Grateful: I’m grateful for the fact that I came out of 2020 alive, mentally & physically well & breathing. That is a blessing in itself.
- Have Courage: The beginning of 2020 was scary but as time goes on, I had two options, to live in fear or to face realities and make the most of it. I decided to live courageously by accepting the truth, but to stop watching the news every day, to fight for my inner peace, and to absolutely do whatever I can to have hope for the future.
- Be More Self-Aware: With no option but to keep social distance, I find myself meditating more and spending more time analyzing the path I was on and the life and person I truly want to be and that process gave me more clarity in my life.
- The Importance of Health: I learned how important it is to nourish our mind and body. During traumatic and uncertain times, we can easily bury ourselves in misery, eating our stress away, or turn to quick fixes that can harm us in the long term.
- Rise Up to the Challenge: In hard times the world needs the best version of ourselves. Our family needs us, our neighbors need us, our community and the world needs us. But most importantly, we need us. Don’t wait for others to lift you up, there is no savior, no god that can come and save you until you make the decision that you will.
- Learn to Give & to Serve: During the pandemic, the world is suffering, and hence whatever we can do to give back, this is the time to do it. We can be creative with giving back, it doesn’t have to be monetary or materials, it can be our time, our energy.
- Practice extra Kindness & Compassion: Have empathy for others. We are constantly judging, making comments and we do it even more during tough times, playing the blame game but we also know there are always two sides to a story so let’s be kind, we get to sleep better at night.
- Live in the moment. Make everyday count: This can not be more true. As we see people dying, people losing jobs, businesses shutting down we ask the question of what did we busy ourselves or work so hard for if it’s not to enjoy the moment, have the time to truly breathe, to be present with our loved ones? Yesterday is gone, Tomorrow is not guaranteed, all we truly have is this moment.
What were your lessons in 2020? Feel free to let me know if you share some common lessons or perhaps even new insights that you have that I may not have mentioned?
To me this blog and everything that I write, produce is a dialogue, a conversation that I want to have with you and I would love to hear back from you on your thoughts.
If you’re feeling inspired to write or connect with me, reach out to me on IG at @maithemindfulhuster or email me at [email protected] – I love getting comment & feedback.
