What did you accomplish this year that you didn’t think you could?

Even in a year of bad, you can find the good.

One summer evening, as I was strolling through Target to ease my Quarantine-blues, I stumbled upon this journal. “Question A Day: A 5 Year Memory Journal” caught my eye and I immediately bought it. The premise of the journal is as simple as it sounds: 365 questions; 1 question a day; 5 years. I bought this journal on June 22nd of this year and it’s been my personal-growth saving grace, to say the least. As I was answering my daily question, today’s made me smile more than the others.

December 2nd: What did you accomplish this year that you didn’t think you could?

At first glance, I thought “nothing. It’s 2020 in the midst of a pandemic. WHAT could I have possibly accomplished?” And that’s when it hit me. I accomplished so much this year. Before I boast about what I’ve accomplished, let’s talk about the importance of this question and the weight it carries.

We accomplish so much every day even if we didn’t check off our to-do list. In the grand scheme of things, we’ve accomplished more than we take credit for this year and the year isn’t even over yet. Despite all the horrors 2020 had to bring us, we persevered, found new hobbies, reconnected with ourselves, others, and the outside world, and made great memories along the way. Of course, I’m briefly overlooking the travesties that this year brought but it’s important to self-reflect on your successes and remember how far you’ve come along your life journey.

For me, I accomplished much more than I thought after thinking about it for a few moments.

• I was promoted at my part-time marketing job for goPuff in January.
• I started journaling daily in February.
• I got & survived having COVID-19 in March.
• I published my blog in April.
• I graduated from college in May.
• I joined a gym & started to workout daily in June.
• I turned 22 in July.
• I saw progress in my marketing freelance gigs in August.
• I lost a lot of weight in September (thanks to my consistent exercise & healthy dieting).
• I was asked to come back for interviews in October (even though I didn’t get the jobs, it was a great experience and a fabulous networking opportunity #UnemployedDuringAPandemicVibes).
• I did a lot of self-reflection in November and came to many life-changing realizations.
• Now, it’s December 2nd and I made it through 2020, despite the trials and tribulations, yet so much good has come in my life. I am healthy, my family is healthy, and we made it through yet another year despite it all.

That’s what I accomplished this year. And I didn’t think any of that was going to happen.

The next time you think, “I hate 2020” or “2020 gave me nothing” or “I wasted a year of my life because of the pandemic”, stop and think about what you’re saying. Life could be so much worse — you or a loved one could have been seriously affected by the pandemic, or maybe it already has. You could have lost your job, or maybe you did. But at the end of the day, it could always be worse. Rather than looking at the glass half empty, look at your half-full glass and say, “hey, look how much I have when I could have nothing.”

So now I have to ask you: what did you accomplish this year that you didn’t think you could?

Reflect on 2020 and count the blessings you were given. After all, 2020 really wasn’t that bad.

xoxo -C