There is now sugar coating it was the worst year by far. COVID-19 has taken so much from so many and for a large portion of the year depression was sneaking round my mental edges ready to invade. I could almost smell it. Thankfully some time away from social media has remedied this.
Having lived my life online here for nearly 10 years I am fully aware of the highs and lows of social media but with the negativity of a global pandemic at times it was hard to even face being online on my own blog and social media channels as bored keyboard worriers were out in full tactical gear and peoples thoughts and opinions were shot down in flames all over the web.
Not to mention the influx of people online that dedicated their online presence to making people feel bad if they didn’t stand on their door steps to clap on the Thursday. But regularly shared snaps of themselves with their friends taking non socially distanced selfies and finding ways around breaching COVID regulations at any given opportunity.
Since Christmas this year has been a quiet one I have taken some time to reflect on what 2020 has actually given to me and my family in a positive way instead. I know for good mental well-being holding onto the negatives only and not balancing those with the good can be really detrimental so here are my positives from 2020:
- I got to spend months at home with the boys during the first lockdown. Watching them grow and generally living in a slower pace of life.
- With having no nail and beauty business to run I got to switch off my social media channels and enjoy the peace.
- As a family we have massively decluttered the whole house
- We finally painted all the back-garden fences and tied the garden
- There were 2 family breaks during the periods of less restrictions. Both of which were based on being outside and enjoying fresh air making for not only COVID 19 safer but also cheaper as we spent a lot less.
- I cleared out all the spam emails and unsubscribed from hundreds of mailing lists!
- The boys and I snuggled and watched films on a whim, and I got cuddles everyday
- The house was redecorated from top to bottom after having the paint for years!
- I have cleared my computer of tens of thousands of photos and stored them and backed them up on a cloud drive.
- We have just about managed to pay most of our bills and those we haven’t are being chipped away at.
- Family meals have been planned in advance to save money and time debating. There has even been a lot cooked by Hubs!
- Organisation was the key and we had Christmas gifts sorted months before Christmas knowing things would be harder to sort and source in a lockdown. Leaving tons of time for napping and spending time together instead.
- We discovered so much more of our village on foot then we probably would have done if we didn’t have a lockdown.
- I discovered a love for Yoga and Pilates.
- I spent 6 months being kinder to myself about my weight and just enjoying life and myself.
- New friends virtually were made along with old one’s reconnecting.
I am hoping 2021 will mean we get more family time as I am desperate to spend some quality time with my family and with Ollie’s as we miss them terribly but for now I am going to try and remain positive over the things I can control.
How was your 2020? What were your positives?