Quite understandably, the general tone of the nation, and likely the world, is one of looking forwards, not backwards. Most couldn’t wait to see the back of 2020, which certainly towards the end has been like living in an actual apocalyptic film.
For most of 2020 I was of the same opinion; head down, get on with it and plough forwards to light at the end of the tunnel. But the tunnel kept getting longer, and the list at the end not only further away but very often, dwindled to a mere flicker of hope.
I’m sharing my very personal reflection of 2020 for only one reason. I’m normally quite a private person and throughout my life I’ve kept much to myself. I guess that’s how I was raised. It’s only in 2020 that I’ve learned, along with so many other important life lessons, that keeping things shut away is not only toxic, but destructive. When I began to share with my social media followers, with great trepidation and uncertainty that I may well be over sharing, a few insights into how difficult the past 12 months had been for me, I was overwhelmed with the responses. Message after message came through, followed by emails and even letters sent to the farm telling me how much people resonated with what I’d been through; that reading about my struggles had helped them with their own, and thanking me for being so open and honest in a world of so much falseness and filter. So, this reflection is not really for me – I certainly don’t need to go through it all again; I was there! But I hope, it helps you.
As you’ll read, I’ve been through a tsunami of pain and challenge in 2020, yet, on reflection, every single thing I’ve pushed through in the last 12 months has made me a better person in one way or another.
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