Gratitude in 2020 does not mean to minimise how you feel or to take away from the pain or the grief of this year.
Gratitude does not take away from feeling angry and uncomfortable and pissed off your plans may not gone to plan.
Bravery is to be honest enough to feel the rain on your raw skin and ache in your heart when heartfelt dreams go awry.
Resilience is to see the skies clear in the midst of a storm and see the wonder of a rainbow and smell fresh rain on lush grass.
Gratitude to see blessings amongst the chaos. Lessons hidden now and oh so clear as time goes on.
In yogic tradition, there is a niyama call santosha. Santosha is a tenet of yoga which relates to acceptance of what is. Yes, we have intentions and goals as we look into the future and santosha respects this and also looks at the now. Acceptance of what is happening right now – regardless of how you interpret it – good, bad or ugly. Globally, we have had to accept where we are with COVID-19, restrictions, being away from loved ones and how has been this year. Yoga International described santosha as “delight, happiness, joy”…I would not describe 2020 as “delightful” as such, but it has been a year where globally we have had to practice surrendering and acceptance and also come to appreciate what we perhaps previously took for granted.
As this year comes to a close, I think of the ongoing chaos, loss, grief, illness, injury, sadness and conflict globally in 2020 and how people are grappling to come to terms with what is. In spite of the chaos and distance separating us, I have felt connected with my community locally and abroad as I see resilience and innovation shine through. Each person I have connected with has been affected by the pandemic in one way or another and forced to simplify life to identify what matters and what doesn’t.
It has felt like a wide celebration as I see my family and friends and community welcome new babies into the world, celebrate new unions, graduations, birthdays, new businesses launch, courses launch, overcome cancer, heal old wounds and raise hands to fight for a better world and take time to connect. Truly connect in a disconnected world. The world has not paused because we are in a pandemic. We are in a world of ‘new normal’ and edging towards ‘next normal’. Amidst this changing world, I have maintained my gratitude list.
What are you grateful for? For the past 7 years I have started my days with 10 things I am grateful for and ended with 10 things I am grateful for. Like people everywhere, I have had rough days this year and felt pretty bloody raw. Other days are a bit harder than others and other days are super sweet. This list of 20 things I am grateful for has held me as I have experienced loss, grief, pain, heartache, rejection, illness and job loss. As I experience the full range of emotions that are part of being human. This list is not to minimise how I feel or to take away from feeling sad or put a band-aid over feeling pissed off. A gratitude list helps me to continue to see the beauty in what can feel like a hard world at times and I always tell myself – hardship and trials keeps me humble. 🙂 What is the world teaching us a global community right now? So many lessons – will we learn or continue to make the same mistakes?
As we edge to a new year, I want to take time to express my gratitude to you for being part of my community! Your presence here is a blessing to me. THANK YOU! I am grateful to have you here with me on this journey and I wish you a beautiful few days clearing out old energy in 2020 that no longer serves and holding onto your gratitude list as we start the year 2021 fresh together.
Roxy xo