New Year, New Vision

Wow. 2020 was definitely a surprise to all of us, wasn’t it?

I remember writing my new year article at this same time last year, having NO clue just how much I’d learn in 2020. I don’t know about you, but I learned A LOT this past year that I wouldn’t have without the pandemic forcing me to slow down and change the way I lived my life. This year hasn’t necessarily given me everything I hoped for in 2020, but it most certainly gave me everything I needed... and then some.

A new vision

I’ve been gifted a new (proverbial) vision on life. You know, the vision that requires imagining what our futures will look like... And for that, I have to be grateful.

Gratitude

As cliche as it may sound, I have spent the greater part of 2020 trying to focus on an attitude of gratitude. Really, what I have learned this year is that everything is bound to change and nothing is certain. So, I have been extremely intentional about focusing my energy on anything that comes my way that either feels great to my soul or teaches me something new. Even the hard things in life.

Yes, you read that correctly... I am grateful for the hard things in my life.

Our hardships are a gift

For me, what it all boils down to is this… without my hardships, I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today. Who I am today is an evolved, healed, serene person filled with hope for a brighter future despite any past or future hardships. Including the vision loss that I’ve experienced this year and will no doubt experience in years to come.  Where I am is exactly where I need to be... safe, loved, growing, and confident in myself.

The good outweighs the bad

2020 not only brought pandemic-type changes to my life, but it also brought me more central vision loss and the loss of people I held near and dear to my heart.

A lot of ‘bad’ things happened to me last year, to say the least. But, you know what? All the good that happened outweighs the bad. The year also brought new people and perspective along with all of the challenges.

How I see it

The way I see it is that even though we may not have a choice in what happens to us in life, we always have a choice in how we decide to handle it. I have found that I’ve been able to sift through all of the hardships that 2020 brought and have found so much positivity in it all.

Did I cry and complain a lot in 2020? Absolutely. I’m human and change is HARD. Was I devastated when I lost more of my central vision? Of course. But, I also chose to continue to move forward looking for the joy in all of it.

Why I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions

I stopped making New Year’s Resolutions a long time ago. All they really did was set me up for disappointment. I’ve changed my mindset and instead create goals for myself. For example, instead of telling myself, I have to ‘run 1,000 miles this year’, I decide that I will ‘exercise regularly’. Instead of expecting to ‘lose 10 pounds’, I decide to ‘eat healthier’.

These really aren’t resolutions, they’re more intentions and lifestyle choices.

A new year

Who knows what the year 2021 will bring to our lives. I just hope that we are all able to find the good in it all, letting go of the things we cannot change. Here’s to this year being more of what we all need it to be, and less of what we want it to be or think it should be.

Happy New Year! I wish you a year full of great vision.

Andrea Junge