Still Here, 2020 Edition

Recently, a friend on Facebook decided to ask us all to share one thing that happened this year that was a positive, to try and collect any and all good news in one place. It was a good idea, and as I thought about how I would respond to something like that, I thought of some of the good things that have happened this year. I’ve had some pretty nice successes at work. I’ve connected on a deeper level with my wife, and managed to stay connected to a close group of friends and family. Those were good things, but at the end of it all, I kept coming back to something I talked about at the end of 2019 on the Find Your Voice Podcast, and then again on this very blog on January 1 of 2020.

“I’m Still Here”

In 2019 the best I could offer was that we survived it. We suffered so much loss, personally, that simply surviving it was an accomplishment. And then, along came 2020 and the whole world was just trying to survive.

It’s true. With everything that went on in the world, all the uncertainty, anxiety, loss, sadness, and anger, simply still being here is an accomplishment. That’s all. Everything other good thing that happened this year was just gravy on top of the real meat of 2020, simply deciding every day to continue living, doing the things I need to do to say safe, sane, and alive.

If you’re reading this, no matter what your 2020 looked like, and I know for some of you, 2020 brought about much more significant pain and suffering, than I experienced myself, I am happy that you are still here.

No matter what is going on in your life, step one to making it better is still being here. Maybe the change of the new year will mark a turn in your own life, maybe it’ll be a few months from now, or maybe it’ll even be 2022. No matter when you start to see healing, recovery, and moments of joy, you have to stay here to get there.

Keep going. It’s the best option we have.