2020 has been quite a year! Everyone around the world has been adjusting to the “new normal” way of living during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though we were in lockdown for the majority of this year, this pandemic has taught us some very important lessons that we should take with us as we enter 2021.
Here are the 3 lessons this year taught us:
- Prioritize your family!
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I think we all get so caught up with assignments, going out with friends, and other things at uni that we forget how valuable family time is. This year, because of the pandemic we were basically forced to live with our families again. Personally, going back home and staying there for so long was extremely overwhelming at the beginning. But I think it’s safe to say that this year we all have realized that we don’t give our family nearly as much love, time, and attention as they deserve. They have always been by our side through our toughest times and sometimes it’s easy to forget that because, somewhere in the back of our mind, we know that they’ll always be there for us no matter what.
Next year, or post lockdown, we may not be able to give our family the same amount of time we did in 2020. But, I think it’s important that we don’t make excuses and prioritize our family no matter what!
- Check in with yourself!
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We are constantly under pressure to meet deadlines, be productive, achieve our goals, and so on. In the midst of all this, we often forget to rest and really think about how satisfied we are with our lives. All those problems that we avoided thinking about by keeping ourselves busy have caught up with us this year. Being confined in our homes has made it even more difficult to deal with the problems!
I think 2020 has taught us to slow down and ask ourselves: “How are you feeling? Are you happy with your progress? What’s going good or bad in your life? What are you going to do to change or deal with the bad?” Because if we don’t regularly check in with ourselves, then the problems we’re running away from may become bigger.
- Learn the essentials!
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This year has taught us the importance of learning housekeeping skills like cooking, cleaning, basic maintenance, and so on. Personally, having to cook meals at home without my mom around was a nightmare! With people being in complete lockdown, we were limited to help from the internet or our roommates. As unfortunate as it is, circumstances like these can arise at any time, but we must always be prepared to deal with them.
I think learning basic housekeeping skills could be a great New Year’s resolution for 2021!