What to be grateful for in 2020? That's a difficult question! There's no doubt that this year has been hard for many of us, however, there's definitely things to be grateful for. For one, this year has taught me not to take anything for granted and that everything can change in the blink of an eye.
With the year coming to a close, I tend to be quite reflective around this time. Looking back on the highs and lows of the year, and to practice gratitude and thankfulness for the people around me. So, without further ado, here's my gratitude list for 2020.
Things To Be Grateful For In 2020
Family
They have to be number one. Throughout the pandemic, I was fortunate enough to keep my job. However, I did work front-line on the Covid wards, meaning that I was in contact with patients who had Coronavirus every day. This was tough. Really tough. I live with my family and to protect them, I decided to stay within my room at all times and they kindly delivered food to my door. I stayed in my room for a total of ten weeks and only had full range of the house after my team moved back to the non-Covid wards. I'm so relieved that no one in my household/family caught Covid and that they remained healthy and well throughout the pandemic.
Related: What I've Been Doing During Lockdown
Health As mentioned before, I have really put my health at risk this year. My ward was one of the first ones that had to move to the Covid positive wards, and it was scary. None of us really knew anything about this virus, how it transfers from one person to another, how to protect ourselves or frankly, whether we'd make it out alive. You'd hear it on the News every single day about people dying from this virus, yet knowing this, I had to go back to work to face it head-on. I'm very fortunate to have my health, and I'll never take it for granted.
Kindness Yes, there was trouble at the start of the pandemic - the toilet roll shortage, food hoarding, etc. But soon enough, kindness came through. I am grateful to my wonderful friends who were always available to be a listening ear, I am grateful for my lovely colleague who stayed up for hours at night so we could stay on the phone crying to one another about what we've seen, I am grateful for the offers of free counselling, discounted items and of course the Clap for Carers!
Perseverance
Moving on from Covid, I am grateful for my perseverance. I am very goal-orientated and set myself time limits on when to achieve my goals and aims. The events of this year have definitely made it much harder to achieve my goals. For example, I really hoped to have gained my driving license earlier in the year, yet this was delayed due to the virus, but thankfully I have since passed my driving test! Whoop! While this year hasn't been great for smashing my goals, I am still proud of what I've achieved; I helped during the Coronavirus pandemic and it's something I'll never forget.
You! I'm so grateful to you! Yes, you! This little space on the internet that has grown and grown; it's given me an outlet to my feelings and I've met so many wonderful people as a result. I am so grateful to every like, comment, follow or interaction on this blog, it means so much to know that people are appreciating my content.
My Home I am grateful to have a roof over my head. I'm fortunate that I can look out of my window and see the green fields of Yorkshire, and so many trees! It's so beautiful, and I will always be grateful to have this safe place to live. Homelessness is something that has always upset me. When I was a child, I wanted to grow up to work in homelessness charities and to help to get people off the street. I now work in healthcare but still donate to homeless charities. This time of year, when it's so cold outside (and especially now with the risk of catching the virus too!), spare a thought for the homeless people out there.
Books Books are my escape. Open them up, and they take you on a journey to a new world with new people and new adventures. They allow you to forget what's happening around you, and give you the space to explore somewhere else for a while.
Today Okay, this one is a little deep. We should all take a look around and be grateful for today, because you never know how many you have left. This year has really taught me how quickly life can be taken away from you, so it's important to appreciate every moment and to not take anything for granted.
There we are, they're the things that I'm grateful for in 2020. That's just off the top of my head but I'm sure there's plenty more! What are you grateful for in 2020?
Take care and stay safe,
