2020, may be coming to end, but the challenges we faced this year continue as we go into 2021. Yet in 2020 we saw people around the world come together to help others facing the unknown, as allies and advocates for not only their friends and community members, but for people they may never meet — providing financial support, emotional support or even inspiring others to lend a hand in any way they can. 2020 is the year that forever changed us all. It forced us to slow down, give up things (whether we wanted to or not), but it forced us to grow in ways we might not have grown without Covid.

I used to think that being busy all the time showed people that I was one of the best go get’em and knock them dead entrepreneurs.. That if I wasn’t doing anything productive or knocking off all the items on my to-do lists that I was just a complete failure. 2020 taught me that it’s okay to slow down. It’s okay to take time off from my “busy life” and just live in the moments that I am given.

Another thing that 2020 has taught me is that it’s okay to ask for help. Some people are so afraid to ask for help because then it means that they aren’t the superman or superwoman most thought they were. We all can’t do everything alone, sometimes we need to put our egos aside and reach out.

As someone who loves social media, 2020 has taught us that your mind can’t handle the constant negativity, fighting, and toxicity that you see, and hopefully you learned to really limit your consumption of it all. I did this prior to 2020, but I do this even better because of crazy-ass year we have had.

Finally, instead of worrying about all the things yet to come and all the things I wish we had, this year I found myself learning to be completely content with what surrounded me. Yes, I had the worst birthday, with not being able to go out, and yes, I wanted to have new adventures this year, but what 2020 made me realize is that the most important thing in the world is love and being surrounded by it.

2020 taught me that sometimes you have to risk opening up and putting everything on the table because if you don’t, then you lose the chance of not getting to know people. We’ve all been hurt and we’ve all had heartbreak but if you’re not willing to take a risk then you miss out on the relationships that could be amazing. Life is short. Don’t sit there and ponder, “What if.” No man is an island. Reach out, and it may be the beginning of something beautiful. 

We all faced many challenges this year, but I was blessed to have some amazing people who stood by my side the entire time. They know who they are. All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart. And to all those strangers out there on social media that have become some of the best people that I have light conversations with, thank you for becoming a part of life.

Happy New Year!