What 2020 Taught Me
Do you feel that 2020 is strange yet a lot of learning that we could take from it? If yes, you’re not alone.
I feel like 2020 is like a roller-coaster to me, On early February 2020, I still could traveling to another continent with my family and fiancé, seeing the beauty of the city of love, seeing artistic heritages, enjoying coffee and croissant in a cafe, and also enjoying the city of canals without having the anxiety of COVID-19 infection. Never in my life that I thought the world will change dramatically.
When I’m back to Indonesia after my 2-weeks holiday trip, I still remember vividly that I still could go to the office, restaurants, even bars with my friends and colleagues. I felt 2020 is like a usual year to me, although there was a COVID-19 outbreak in China. Turns out the universe has a different plan, there’s a COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia around March 2020, and my life was changed ever since.
The company that I work to implement a Work-From-Home policy for every employee. At first, It seems good, right? You don’t have to commute to the office because your work desk is a meter away from your bed, you don’t have to dress up for work, and also you could set your own working time. For the first 2 weeks, I enjoyed my Work-From-Home because of the perks, but then entering the third week I felt fatigued. From zoom meeting to another zoom meeting, never-ending slack messages, and also an unstructured working time that made me burn out. A lot of things that I tried to maintain my sanity, from watching Netflix, lots of video calls with my fiancé, cycling, to virtual parties via zoom with friends.
During the same period of early Work-From-Home, I was applying for a job within the company to change my role that I’m really interested in. A lot of preparation I did in order to be accepted to the role, from self-learning on the internet to gain insights from friends who are already in the field. I thought I could make it to be accepted to the role, but reality hits hard on me and I was rejected. I’m questioning my self-worth because of the rejection and It took me two months to rise again.
Fast forward to June 2020 where there was a period whereby a lot of companies start to lay-off their employees due to a major slow down in their business, I was really anxious that I’ll be laid-off. By the announcement came out, I’m grateful that I still have a job even I could jump into another role that excites me back in October 2020.
Contemplating on the ups and downs in 2020, I noticed that there are three things that I learn:
- Changes are inevitable and nothing lasts forever, we should be able to adapt to new circumstances.
With the COVID-19 pandemic is happening in the world, a lot of things are changing and we don’t have a choice other than adapt to the new circumstances. By adapting to new circumstances, we could survive or even thrive and also grow to become a better person personally and professionally. - Maintaining your wellbeing and sanity is as important as maintaining your physical health.
Mental health becomes a highlighted topic since the COVID-19 pandemic. People struggling to maintain their wellbeing and sanity due to the dramatic changes in their life, be it unable to walk in the mall without having anxiety about the virus infection, unable to travel, unable to meet people freely. A lot of things we could do to maintain our wellbeing, go find a new hobby or safe activities that make you happy and sane! - Rejections in life will lead us to something better
Quoting Steve Maraboli on rejection, “Every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better”. I still believe that everything happens for a reason, including rejection. It’s normal to feel sad when rejections hit you, but it’s also important to rise up again from your sadness so the universe could give you something better in your life. Chin up and face the world!
