Can we believe 2020 has come to an end? What a year it was!! I remember, last year at this time of the year, I was planning to host a Bollywood theme Blog Hop “BollyExpress” with Pragun. We picked this particular theme because Bollywood has songs for every occasion, and to welcome 2020; what could be a better theme than Bollywood to get soaked in Bollywood songs. Little did we know that 2020 would come with a big surprise for all of us. None of us asked for an invitation to this pandemic, yet every single person on the face of the Earth has been mandated to attend. But as we get goodie bags at the end of any party, 2020 has also given us goodies that we can term as takeaway from 2020.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the co-bloggers asked in her tweets your one word for 2020. I replied, “Eventful”. It was eventful for me in many ways. Here is how my 2020 went by.  Please click on the arrow to watch the slideshow.

RECAP OF MY 2020

For this post, I decided to ask a couple of my co-bloggers to share their thoughts. 

If you would like to listen to my takeaways in Hindi then tune into this podcast episode.

Priyanka Nair, Mental Health Blogger at Sanity Daily

My takeaway from the year 2020, and what kept me going, was the exact amount of time we had in our hands. When this pandemic thing happened to us, we had only two choices, either crib and stress over the present situation or make the most out of it.

I have fought huge battles this year on the personal side, and I carry a storm within. But for me, this isolation came out as a blessing and helped me evaluate my life; I took necessary corrective steps and decided to upgrade my skills. I channelized all my energy into boosting my career and tried my best to spend the most quality time with my little one without stressing over being a perfect mom. 

COVID-19 taught me that nothing is permanent, and life is unpredictable. We should be grateful for whatever we have and should happily cherish what we are blessed with. I am grateful for this life and being able to be there for my near and dear ones.

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Ujjwal, Blogger at mywordsmywisdom

2020 has been an unprecedented year. Although it started on a good note, I had my birthday celebrated on the beach in Goa. But after we came back, the cases of Covid19 began to surge. And the series of lockdowns followed. Covid19 has changed many things in our day-to-day life. Although there is always a silver lining to every dark cloud.

My takeaway(s) from Covid-19 are many. However, the most important is that this pandemic made us realize the real meaning of the word ‘Essentials’. ‘Being thankful’ for everything we have. Before you complain about not having fancy shoes, remember about the man who doesn’t have feet to wear shoes, and be thankful to God for what you have.

One thing that kept me going and braving in adverse conditions is Optimism, thinking positively, connecting with all family members near and far regularly, exercise, and meditation. The bad days will be soon over and will be followed by better days; this hope and belief kept me going. I am still hopeful about the vaccines and getting better days. 

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Urvashi Nenawati, blogger at damurucreations

The most important takeaway from 2020 is “Take a break from the mad race”. On a typical day, what would give me the anxiety is now a reason to ‘Pause, Reflect and then React’. 2020 may have restricted my movement but I spent a lot of time on personal growth, which has taught me one big lesson –‘if you decide anything is possible’. I was continually buying books every year to complete my yearly reading goal, but I realized that I was doing it because everybody was doing the same.

I wasn’t an avid reader, but slowly I have developed reading and learning in 2020. I now read a few lines a day and some days a page or two. But those are goals I achieve every day. And I am proud of myself.

This year has taught me to be more realistic, meaningful, and find joy in little things rather than trying to do everything and overwhelm myself in the process. If there is something I want to carry forward, it is this Approach of slowing down in life and taking one step at a time in life.

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Swarnali, Blogger at thesaffronstoryteller

Find your purpose to be happy from within. Create a happy world. Appreciate all the little things you have in your arms. Never let them go away. They’re your key to happiness. Life may go as it is meant to be; keep walking. Keep yourself going with the flow of life. Don’t stop, and look back. Be grateful for everything and everyone you have with you now. Focus on your happiness. Know your worth. You are priceless. You are unique in your way. Love yourself, always. Life is beautiful if we focus on positive things around us. Embrace gratitude and forgiveness.

Be kind to everyone. Spread your love to the ones who are deprived of love. Let your kind soul be their light for the way ahead. 

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Vasantha Vivek, Mental Health Coach and Blogger at mysweetnothings

Though 2020 had been hard on the personal front, professional front, and worldwide, my mindfulness practices helped me a lot. 

The year 2020 also helped build resilience in me, keeping me more positive every day, especially during this difficult time. My Key Takeaway from 2020:

• Nothing is permanent in this world. This, too, shall pass soon.

• As a human, 2020 made me realize that we are nothing in front of God.

• Learnt new things and found a fair amount of time to turn inward.

• Being happy having my family and healthy amidst all sorts of health threats.

Yes, I also accept that 2020 was a year with much loss, negativity, and despair worldwide. Yet, I chose mindfully to view only its positive aspects. So, the key takeaway from 2020 for me was “Be In The Present Without Any Judgments”. And the one thing that kept me going in 2020 was “This too shall pass soon”

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Ruchi Verma, Blogger at wigglingpen

2020 was a tough time for all of us, but it has given me life lessons, and that is a lesson to forgive and move ahead in life. For me, forgiving was easy in life, but forgetting was tough, and 2020 taught me that. I learned that life is too short to keep gauges and to break up relationships. I have done that in the past, but this pandemic gave me meaning to pick up a phone and call if you want to treasure the relationships. Apart from this, what kept me going was the unconditional love and support of my husband and kids, who mentally supported me and household chores. Along with ——-that, our karaoke moments to make us more energetic and keep ongoing.  

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Noor Anand Chawla, Blogger at nooranandchawla

2020 was a year of change- difficult for most yet also incredibly positive for some. Perhaps it was a question of viewing events happening around us a certain way? I have seen tremendous growth in my mindset and my career path. More than anything, I have learned a few invaluable life lessons this year:

• As long as my family is together and healthy in all aspects, we can make our happiness.

• 2020 has taught me how to be an expert multi-tasker and super productive in a span of 24 hours.

• I have learned that I do not ‘need’ to go out or socialize. My work and my happiness does not depend on how many brand engagements I am invited to or how busy my social calendar is.

• Above everything else, 2020 has taught me to count my numerous blessings and appreciate the universe for them. Family, health, stability, love, and laughter are the only things we need to survive.

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Dipika Singh, Blogger at gleefulblogger

2020 has been a year of real test-match that almighty has thrown at our way to play and win.

As a person, I call myself very adaptive. But 2020 has challenged us like never before. Helplessness was just a word we read or wrote but never experienced. 

I have learned many things in 2020, but I genuinely hold close and will continue Gratitude.

Gratitude is the most common word used by writers, bloggers, and self-love enthusiasts. But does it mean feeling thankful to say a few words and move on? No! Gratitude is a life-choice, philosophy, emotions, and a lifestyle.

• I am thankful to be able to think coherently and write this post.

• I am thankful to be able to breathe and live.

• I am thankful for the love and compassion in life.

• I am thankful that it’s a beautiful day.

• I am thankful that I am ‘I.’

Life gave us another chance to mend ways and to start building back to basics. Make changes at a personal level for our tomorrow to be grateful to our choices today.

I have also learned to be self-dependent, a change that was enforced upon us but brought in a huge difference.

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Surbhi Prapanna, Blogger at surbhiprapanna

Unfortunately, 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. This year, the pandemic has turned our lives upside down and forced us to adopt the “New normal routine”. But on the brighter side, this year has taught us many valuable life lessons. Here are some of my key takeaway from 2020:

• Life is unpredictable, so be grateful for things we have: It is very important to be grateful for our blessings and should avoid taking things for granted.

• Adopt fast : From online schooling to virtual birthday celebration, I had developed an attitude of adopting things quickly.

• Taking good care of health: This pandemic has made us realize how important it is to take care of our physical and mental health. During the last six months, I had made many lifestyle changes for myself and my family and made “health” a priority.

• Slow down and spend some quality time with family– I had learnt the way to find happiness in simple things.

During this challenging time, the one thing that has helped me keep going is “Think positive and keep myself creatively engaged”. This creative engagement has helped me in kept going and stay positive during the stressful pandemic situation.

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Pragun, Blogger at praguntatwa

2020 has been the year of realizations and revelations. A lot we learned, and so much is taught. We understood life from a new perspective. Universally we kept holding, and everyone tried their best to survive and sail thru this pandemic.

I realized kids were most cooperative in this journey as in their life; this was a different experience they had to face. A lot has been said, written, and discussed on the global pandemic. This is my take on it.

We prayed we hoped; we stayed together,
We tried finding meaning,
In arts and acts,
In books & quotes,
In series & music,
In cooking & baking,
In yoga & meditating,
In words and worlds,
In old friends and new,
And we are still holding it…

With sanitizers and the mask
We accepted the new normal task
We patiently looked at old pics
and kept dreaming of places and trips
We longed to go out
yet we stayed happily inside too,
We missed friends and family,
We missed malls & movies,
We missed shopping and trips,
We missed drives and walks too,
But we accepted
And we are still holding it…

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Archana Srivastava, Blogger at archusblog

Even though this year has thrown the worst of all on us, it had lots of things in its bag to offer and to learn. Few sunniest takeaways from this infected 2020 have taught me that sometimes entire life may fall short to learn.

So, these were the thoughts of my co-bloggers. Aren’t they beautiful? I am sure, whenever I will read this post in future, it is going to give me lot of positivity. Hope you all must have had the same feelings.

• Being healthy is more important than outer look. Whether it is about our own self or others. Keep track of your daily diet, daily workout, a balance between the rest days and cheat day, your sleep, etc.

• Keep checking on your family and friends, time to time, do not wait for any emergency. These are real assets of our life.

• Having a short knitted trusted group of friends is always better than taking the pride of leading fake friends.

• Do not waste your time pleasing others; using your mind and energy to grow and improve yourself is always a better idea.

• Go Green! Must make a small corner in your home to bring a nature love; plants have the power to kill any negativity around inside and out.

• Always motivate yourself to learn something new, any hobby, any courses, skills, etc.

• Always have transparency between needs and wants.

• Life is too short to hold grudges.

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Meenal & Sonal, Blogging Sister Duo at auraofthoughts

It was great to zero-in one thing that kept us going in this year. Here are our thoughts on the same.

One thing that kept us going is the responsibility to spread the joy in this pandemic. Being a blogger, we understand the power of the words and how well words can resonate to change the person’s mindset. When people were tending towards negativity and were limited to their spaces, it was the time when our writing had to be more effective and reach the readers to bring a positive mindset. The commitment towards our goals kept us going in this phase, and when we received feedback saying that our article has brought a smile on their face, that kept us motivated towards our writing and made everyone happy through writing.

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Deepika Mishra, Blogger at myaspiringhope

March 2020, I think we will never forget. An unwanted virus came into our lives and turned them upside down. Have we ever imagined this all will go so long?

We never understood the pain of nature, and this time nature revenge back in its way. This 2020 with full of lessons. Can we survive with minimal life essentials? The answer was yes! We understood the power of nature. We were going in the one-way direction. Now it is the time to sit, think, and calculate what are we doing with our lives?

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So, I am back again. Have you watched the video – RECAP OF MY 2020? If not then, please do watch it.

How did you find these thoughts? Aren’t they truly beautiful and coming straight from the heart? I would like to thank Priyanka, Ujjwal, Urvashi, Swarnali, Vasantha, Ruchi, Noor, Dipika, Surbhi, Pragun, Archana, Deepika, and Meenal-Sonal for taking out they time and coming onboard for this round up post.

Lets welcome 2021 with lot of positivity. Happy New Year in advance…

This blog post is a part of the Welcome 2021 Blog Hop hosted by Swarnali Nath.