It’s hard not to focus on what we’ve lost this year. It’s been a year unlike any other and although not without its many hardships, it’s also forced me to take a step back and think about what’s really important – family, friends, and health. That’s why I wanted to end the year focusing on the positive, the bright side of 2020, and enter 2021 with a sense of hope and positivity. I can’t thank you all enough for all the loyalty and support you’ve shown me and the whole Get Your Pretty On community. You’ve impacted me in ways I will always be grateful for and you’ve all offered such a bright spot to others during this year of sadness and uncertainty. So let’s start the new year on a happy note. Not only am I sharing with you my bright spot of 2020 but I asked the rest of the GYPO team to share as well. Wishing you all a very happy and blessed New Year.
Alison
2020 has given me the gift of a bonus year with my whole family at home. It’s been fun seeing our kids interact as siblings under one roof at this stage of life and deepen their bond with each other. We’ve also been able to truly slow down and do things like enjoy nature, play games together and linger over meals, luxuries that our previously jam-packed schedules didn’t allow for.
Lauren
2020 has been full of gentle reminders for me. As an enneagram 1 my driving motivator is to always be productive and I struggle to make time for rest. I’ve always felt that I needed the world to pause so that I could have permission to take a break too without getting further ‘behind’. March rolled around, the entire world paused… and yet I still felt the same. It was a really valuable reminder for me that I am the only person who can give myself permission to rest. That there is no shame in it, and that truthfully my mental health is better if I make regular rest a priority. Rest for me looks like a face mask on Sunday evening, journaling, walking on a trail with my dog, or reading. (2020 is the year that I finally dove into reading this series which was voted a favorite by GYPO Pretties back in 2018. Why did I wait so long?!)
Kathryn
While this year was full of uncertainties, I can look back and think of the blessings that this year did bring to my family. One of the biggest blessings is that I learned to slow down and fully evaluate our family schedule. The biggest question in mind was…”Does it truly matter how many activities we have booked throughout the week?” With extracurricular activities shutting down, I had an opportunity to focus on what my children really do enjoy and what lights up their lives. They are now focused on one activity at a time, rather than having a few different activities booked throughout the already chaotic week. Learning to slow down was a challenge for me, but I’m so grateful that I got to evaluate that by looking at our day to day and what was important for each of my children.
Coty
This year, like for many others, included some devastating losses, but we’ve had an incredible amount of amazing things happen, too! The biggest bright spot was that we welcomed a beautiful baby boy to our little family. I’ve also gained a ton of extra quality time at home with our children, all while expanding my company. Time is something we will never get back, our children will never get smaller- and I’ve loved every minute (even the chaotic ones) of having them close by. My gratitude for my family, health, the GYPO team, and so many other things have soared during this unprecedented time in our lives.
Jessica
This time last year I remember having a discussion with my husband about how much I would love to just freeze time. Our kids are at such fun ages (7,9, and 11) and I didn’t want things to change, I just wanted to enjoy them as much as I could. Little did I know that March of this year time would pretty much freeze. Activities were cancelled, schools went remote and I found myself having more consistent time than I ever thought possible with my kids. I guess in a way I got my wish although not in any way I had planned. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses as we navigated the new world of learning but in that my appreciation for teachers grew to an all-time high! I was able to have so many more special moments with my family than I should have. We all also learned not to take the simple things for granted. Although this will be a year we will never forget I want to remember it for the extra time we got to spend together and that we were able to get through the uncertainty and make the best of it.
