Looking back at 2020, I admit we have had it pretty rough. It’s been anything but normal for us. When I turned 25 this year I swore it would be the best year of my life. My favourite number is 25, so I always said that year would be a year I wouldn’t forget. And I wasn’t wrong, but its unforgettable for all of the wrong reasons.
Theres something about the end of the year that makes you look back and really be grateful for all of the experiences you had that year. And 2020 has for sure been full of experiences. I don’t want to just look back at 2020 and see all of the bad that we’ve gone through. I want to acknowledge the bad for what it is but focus on the good.
Which is why today I thought it would be good to share twenty things I’m thankful for in 2020.
NEW EXPERIENCES
This year has brought so many new experiences for me. I am grateful to have got a new job at my work place which has enabled me to learn about a new part of the business and learn new skills.
QUALITY FAMILY TIME
Without the pandemic there would never have normally been a time that allowed me and my family to really spend quality time with one another. I’m so grateful for the time it allowed us to make new memories.
TIME TO BE STILL
When would we have normally been able to skip the commute time to spend more time to rest? It would have been unheard of. The time to be still has been something I will cherish and remember about 2020.
OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE MONEY
Due to the pandemic and shops and businesses being closed, I have been able to save money unlike any other time. It really made me realise how we often spend so much money on unnecessary things.
NEW LIFE FOCUS
Before Covid I was always worried and anxious about so many things, and this time has really helped me put into perspective what’s important to me.
BLOGGING
2020 is the year that I brought my blog back to life. I am so grateful for the distraction it has been and the outlet I have been provided to be able to share my thoughts with the world.
NEW FAMILY MEMBERS
This year we have welcomed new family members from friends and my family. New life is so special and something that should always be celebrated.
HEALTH
I have never taken my good health for granted before however, this year I have been reminded how blessed I am to be healthy and okay. We have heard and been affected differently by the hundreds of thousands of deaths that have happened this year, and I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be if you have lost loved ones. And thats why I don’t ever take my good health for granted. We are so blessed to be fit and healthy.
THE BAD TIMES
As I said in my intro, I am the person to acknowledge the bad times for what they are. I know bad times suck, but sometimes we need them to appreciate what good we have in our lives.
A HOME
I love the home I’m in. I am really appreciative for a comfortable, safe space that I get to call home. Especially through the cold winter months, I’m grateful for the place where I live.
NEW FRIENDS
2020 brought new friendships, which I really wasn’t expecting! I have made so many lovely friends through blogging!
TECHNOLOGY
I think we can all say we are grateful for technology this year. Without it I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with international family and friends. Zoom quizzes would never have happened either! And of course I would never have been able to bring my blog back.
FRONT LINE WORKERS
Thank you to those who have continued to risk their lives everyday battling this pandemic. They are the real heroes.
CONTENTMENT
2020 helped me find true contentment in who I am as a person. I have really found myself and who I am through this pandemic. And I don’t think I would have without this weird year we have had.
MY DOG
I am always thankful for my dog obviously, but because I have been at home so much more its meant I’ve been able to spend more time with her. She’s really old now, so any time I get to spend with my little fluff bowl is a blessing to me.
GOOD MENTAL HEALTH
I’m so very thankful that my mental health has been okay throughout this pandemic. There of course have been times where it has declined, but I’ve always had the love and support I need to bring me back up.
THE POSTAL SYSTEM
I know postal workers have had to work super duper hard, even more than normal this year. I’ve been able to send care packages and letters to the people I love because of the postal system!
NEVER RUNNING OUT OF TOILET ROLL
This is a joke but still very true. Remember at the beginning of the pandemic when everyone was stock piling toilet roll? What was all that about. I am for sure thankful we didn’t ever run out!
THE SUMMER
This summer in the UK we had the most glorious weather, and even though I sweated alot, I am really grateful for the nice weather we had. It really helped keep our spirits up during the first lockdown we had.
LOVE
2020 has reminded me how loved I am and how much I love those in my life. I want to leave this world one day being known as the women who loved with her whole heart. Love can take us places, it can heal people and bring peace to the world. And I think thats what we need.
Can you name some things you are grateful for in 2020?
What are some things that have stood out for you this year?
What a great way to end the year. Reminding ourselves of the good that has happened this year. it really puts things into perspective don’t you think?
Olivia x
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We are certainly grateful for this year even if it wasn’t what we expected ❤️
Please I would love to have a guest blog post with you
Guest posts are currently closed until next year, but will re-open in January 🙂
Ok thank you I am so excited
I’m grateful for good health not just mine but all my loved ones, a job, no interruption in income, new experiences, surprisingly I’m grateful for my breakup too. Has made me realize what not to settle for again, and now I’m dating again. And ahh.. this blog as a creative outlet that keeps me sane. Being a frontline worker sucks.
Wow, its amazing how something negative was actually positive for you! Well done👏🏼
We all should be thankful for everything and also I love your blog! 🙂
Agreed! And thank you!
Your welcome! 🙂
I am grateful for being able to figure out my mind and body this year and how to maintain balance 💛 I am grateful for the time I got to spend with my animals and my husband. What stood out to me most this year was the patience and resilience my husband has with everything and am forever grateful for him.
Love this👏🏼
I’m grateful for love, life, health (I was diagnosed with sub acute appendicitis and fibroid), but we don’t have to do surgery now, I lost two of my uncles this year, but I’m still grateful for those of us that are alive and well, I’m grateful for my blog, the moments of laughter and happiness and I’m happy because God has been faithful ❤
Loved this, thanks for sharing!
My pleasure ❤
What a wonderful list Olivia! I too am grateful for many of the same things on your list (including not running out of toilet paper 😄). I would add to my list that I am thankful for not running out of my medical supplies and disinfecting wipes, my husband, my frisky kitties, hot showers, and not contracting the coronavirus.
Hhaahah, it was a tough time when everybody thought they wouldn’t have toilet paper!! Haha!
Such a wonderful list💟💟💟
Thanks!!
Beautiful 😇
Thank you! 🙂
It’s hard to find much positive about 2020 other than it finally ending, but you did a wonderful job.
I always try to find positives in everything!
Wonderful blog❤
Thanks so much!
Most welcome💞
I am thankful for you and your sweetness. The world needs more people like you. And I am thankful for God and His Sovereignty. ❤
Thank you so much. You are so sweet🤍
I’m grateful that we were able to keep all our staff employed. I had built online apps and had everyone working online since 2004, so the transition to working remotely was no problem. The problem for our staff with young families has been dealing with schooling at home and while they try to work. That has been a major issue.
On the negative side of gratefulness, between the pandemic and riots, downtown has been trashed, boarded up, and occupied by the homeless. Our current mayor has given up on downtown, and the police are no longer able to tell the homeless to move on or stop bothering people. Not only is it trashed it’s dangerous. Since the president of the company had been working from home for months, he got the shock of a now derelict downtown when he came into the office one day. That finally convinced him we needed to move. I had started looking seriously for new office space at the start of the first lockdown. We are now buying an office building in a much better location and will be moving in the spring.
My wife is grateful for online classes. The charter school she teaches high school math for was ontop of switching to online schooling. My wife is having much more success engaging her students and working one on one doing on-line classes.
On the bad side, online classes have been hell for the large public schools, and tens of thousands of children have disappeared from the system because of no access to the Internet. The districts are losing a lot of money because of drops in enrollment.
Otherwise, since we are generally hermits who live in paradise, the lockdowns have not had much effect on our personal lives, except we’ve missed out on presenting papers at conferences in 2019.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I love how you have highlighted the good and the bad, which I think is good to do. I hope everything gets sorted out with your office building soon!
We’ve been in the same place for 44 years. We are trying to get rid of lots and lots of stuff.
Agree, agree, agree. With all of these, you just took the words out of my mouth. I have to express gratitude for summer 2020. Looking back, it was pretty special. Cases were going down and it was getting better (not for long but nice while it lasted). It was too hot for England but we just have to roll with it!
At the minute I am grateful for my blog and how it has distracted me (positively) from the world around me.
Hope you are looking forward to 2021! I’m circling it with hope in my mind and I hope it lives up to that. We all need a better year 💕
Catherine x
Summer was amazing wasn’t it?! It was much easier to go through lockdown when it was hot and sunny everyday. Its alot harder now its winter! x
2020 has definitely been a year where we need to focus on the small things that we’re grateful for. Running out of toilet roll. HAHA That made me smile.
I’m glad we had a chance to connect this year through our blogs. I look forward to reading more in 2021!
I had to add that funny part in there 🤣 I am so glad too! I love keeping up with your blogs and reading your blogmas posts!
Looking back on 2020 I am thankful for having more time with my family, less commitments, and the opportunity to start my blog.😁
Yes me too!🤗
These are such lovely things to be grateful for ❤️
I agree! I think the summer was actually quite good because we really appreciated when it was nice weather <3
Lovely list – you are such a positive online presence Olivia! I’ve been thinking a ton about gratitude lately and just finished up the pre Christmas period with a gratitude post as well 🙌 Your post was a great example for how to find gratitude in every day life, really well done. Merry Christmas to you from Germany!
Great blog, I’m Thankyou and grateful for a lot this year. We’ve tried to be positive this year and although surrounded with sadness and turbulence, with U.K. lockdowns it’s been a joy to stay home with my son and have that one on one time with him I’d never normally get. I’m thankful for our health and for technology to be able to keep in contact to our love ones. I’m also thankful for your post. To actually sit and think about what I’m thankful for 🙂 xxx
Grateful to have beat covid 19 and for stillness and clarity. Oddly enough I think this has been a good year for me outside the physical
I love this post✨✨Thankful for the bad times and the summer —I feel you🥰🥰 xx
Inspiring post! I’m grateful for tapping into my creativity and starting up my blog again as well
Last year summer was more hotter that this year, my hayfever symptoms was not that bad this year. So many ups and downs. And being able to change directions, when things happen. Adjusting to new change. 2021 will be a better year. Not to stress over the little things to
I loved this post ,inspite of it being a hard year we can still be grateful for like family and mental health
Even in this Covid situation we have so things to be grateful for. Nice post
I am definitely grateful for my health and that of my loved ones, for time at home with my family, for my home and for technology as well.
Great post, I tell my 25 year old daughter with a 3.8 year old daughter that she deserves a 🐕 and I think that you would agree because of all ya blessings I gotta tell ya Having a 🐩 is ya greatest mental health care approved system as they deliver infinite love ❤️ patience and life lessons 🤬If only the man of the home agreed with ya present writer. Dag! No, see I meant 🐶 Jajaja
TP Rules!😱🤮😡🤬😀🙏
So so so relatable..
I am so grateful for the fact that in 2020 I got to realise my potential and my dreams. I realised so many important things which I ignored all the other while.
This is a great post.. like all your other posts.
Regards
Aathmana
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