Why Am I choosing to thank and celebrate 2020.

So finally, the year 2020 has ended and it has given us a new normal which we had never dreamed of and the pain which we never saw coming.

A lot was lost including human lives, jobs, dreams, and the list goes on. There are a lot of things to hate and complain about the year. I personally coped with some setbacks as well in the year 2020 and was about to draw up a list of things lost and why I hate 2020. But then I asked myself the following questions

Q. Can I undo these losses?

Answer - No

Q. Can anyone else undo it for me?

Answer- Well, No.

Q. Can I change anything about it ?

Answer - Yes, only how I look at it and count my blessings for surviving it, learn my lessons and take those lessons forward.

“We can never change the past, the only thing we can do is change our perspective towards it. We can choose to celebrate it and bring positive emotions into our lives or regret it and bring in negative emotions. So why not choose to celebrate it?”

— Ashish Singh

Since the choices were either to sulk or celebrate, I chose to celebrate. Made a gratitude list to thank the year for things it gave me rather than what it took from me to start the year 2021 with gratitude, hope, and positivity. So, here’s what my gratitude list looks like - 

“Since I couldn’t go out, I went within”

— Ashish Singh

• Thanks for telling me to never take things for granted

• Thanks for letting me go within more

• Thanks for giving me people who I care about 

• Thanks for the smiles of my wife that made my day 

• Thanks for showing things I can live without and what really matters

• Thanks for giving me the time to discover what I stand for  

• Thanks for teaching me skills I never thought I would learn

• Thanks for letting me discover the chef and writer in me

• Thanks for making me more aware of the pain of others

• Thanks for taking me closer to my loved ones even if virtually through video calls 

• Thanks for the certification I could complete from Yale

• Thanks for all movies and series I could watch and travel the world from my couch

• Thanks for showing who the real heroes are

And above all thanks for teaching me how to discover and enjoy the simple joys of life and showing me that I am stronger than I thought. 

 In life, we can’t undo or change any of the things that happened, but we can surely change our perspective towards them and focus on the bright side.

May I urge everyone to make a gratitude list of their own to rewire the brain which focuses more on negatives than positives? Once we achieve this “re-wirement” we can spot opportunities from any adversity and steal the happiness from the jaws of sadness. 

Let this be a year we just don’t hope and dream, but we achieve what we seek. So let’s start the year with a renewed belief and a plan so that we can create the life we seek even when the going is tough. As they say, when going is tough, the tough get going.