“We all have an unsuspected reserve of strength inside that emerges when life puts us to the test.”
Isabelle Allende
As we near the end of 2020, I’ve been reflecting a lot on this year and what it’s taught me. And it’s really just reinforced something that I’ve believed for a long time, that we rarely realize how strong we are until life puts us to the test.
It’s the difficult seasons in life that teach us just how much inner strength we really have.
This year certainly has tested us, hasn’t it?
It’s been hard and uncomfortable and we’ve had to learn to let go. We’ve had to learn how to bend and stretch to meet the demands of a world that looks quite different than it once did.
But we can’t forget what else we’ve learned. That we are capable and resilient and stronger than we ever thought. We’ve been put to the test and we’ve proven that the well of inner strength inside of us is deeper than we ever knew.
Looking back, it feels like 2020 has lasted a lifetime. I started off the year with a surgery we were hopeful would help my pain through the least invasive means possible. I quickly learned that the surgery had failed. It soon became inevitable that I would need a fusion on my back. Rods and screws would now become a part of my physiology and hopefully keep my unstable spine from causing more pain and discomfort.
So in March of 2020, I underwent my fourth back surgery; this time the biggest one yet. As I recovered in the hospital, news of COVID-19 outbreaks in the US had just begun. At the time, I had no idea how serious things would soon become.
My doctors rushed to get me out of the hospital as Covid cases began pouring in. It wasn’t long before states began putting lockdown orders in place and a new way of life became the norm. We were only to go out for essential activities like groceries or doctors appointments.
Schools soon shut down and my husband, a teacher, was suddenly home with me all the time. In a whirlwind, he had to learn how to navigate a new online learning program put in place to ensure that students continued to get their education from home.
It was stressful. It was uncharted territory for everyone involved, and I prayed that there would be a lot of grace given to teachers and parents alike, as everyone attempted to navigate this new system of learning.
We were soon ordered to begin wearing masks whenever we went out in public. Social distancing became the new way of life. I quickly began to realize how much I missed the little things that had been taken away so quickly—a friendly smile from a stranger in the grocery store, a date night out with my husband, a hug from my parents.
When this horrible virus is finally over, I hope I never take these things for granted ever again.
All in all, this year has been hard, to say the least. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; hard times make us into better versions of ourselves. I believe this year has done just that.
So as you look back and reflect on 2020, I hope you will take some time to think about all the ways you’ve grown. And I hope that this year has helped you to realize just how strong you really are.
2021 will not magically make everything better. But there is finally hope on the horizon. And when things finally do go back to normal, I hope that we will never forget all that the year 2020 taught us.
We’ve learned that we can do hard things. We’ve learned that life can change in an instant. We’ve learned how resilient and strong we are. And we’ve learned how very much we need each other. May we always remember these things and as we look to the future, may we never take a single breath for granted.
This year stunk! I will say that I am a more balanced and grounded person because of it. I made a ton of changes and finally feel like myself again. So long, 2020!