55 Things # 55 – The Finale

55 Things, Reflections

Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.

They say that hindsight is 20/20 meaning that looking back at something gives us a clear picture or understanding of the situation. This expression is usually used to indicate that we could have handled things better. Oh, if we had only known. Rarely in life do we get do-overs so the best we can do in these situations is learn from it and hope to do better in the future.

Now that 2020 is hindsight I would like to know if there are things you would have done differently had you known what 2020 would bring. Are there lessons that you have learned or changes that you have made or plan to make?

Personally the biggest change I have made is to protect my mental health. It was after only a few weeks of being barraged with pandemic news that I began feeling overwhelmed. Stress and anxiety were creeping in. I realized that I needed to address this. Here are some of the things that helped me remain sane in this seemingly insane world.

Limiting the amount of news I listen to/read.

Gratitude

Laughter

Prayer and Scripture

Kindness toward others

Keeping life as normal as possible

Living in the moment

Most of these are things I already practiced but I found them to be the most valuable weapons to defend against the covid blues.

While we have heard repeatedly this year that “we are all in this together” reality is that it’s different for each of us. That’s why I believe that there is value in sharing any lessons that 2020 may have taught you. We’re looking forward to learning from you.

Wishing you all the best in 2021. 🙂

20 thoughts on “55 Things # 55 – The Finale”

  2. Hi Ruth, I have been so busy with trying to keep up and sane that visiting my favorite bloggers was put on the back burner as they say. So glad to see you have stopped by, sorry haven’t kept up as much. Trying to post something every day for the month of December was a little harder them usual but it help keep a normal tradition in my life of celebrating and sharing the joy of Christmas traditions with others.
    So true about the working on mental health more for our family and ourselves. My son and daughter are taking a whole semester off from their university, They won’t be going back until Fall 2021 and they get to keep their scholarships so that was nice.
    I stopped watching national and local news but will get tiny bits of news every now and then when I click on YouTube but from independent news sources as I do not trust media anything anymore and haven’t for years now.
    When the fireworks (non legal kind in our state) start getting to be too much we drive up to the country to escape the noise and stress of firework bombs that go off starting at midnight till 4am in the morning. A neighbors goat got so spooked the other night and it died. Also another neighbor said their older dog died after a loud explosion was blasted by their house. Criminals drive around doing this, throwing out fireworks that cause loud explosive sounds in quiet neighborhoods. If you have an American flag, our neighbor across the street has his out all day and night with a light shining on it at night, get these explosives all the time. People drive by and do this.
    Our city and state government here in Arizona has corruption, especially the small politicians like our mayor for this city (just my personal opinion, actually many neighbors and friends feel the same way as I) so not a lot gets done when it comes to mental warfare in our neighborhoods. There are always plenty of excuses to what is happening from our so called leaders to helping fix these problems. In so many words…they don’t care, they only pretend to.
    These next few months we as a family are trying to find ways to help treat our mental health by..
    Walking, getting out in nature more.
    Reading
    watching fun family movies together.
    Art and creating things with our hands.
    Working and growing things in our garden.
    Building things together.
    Small road trips around our state.
    Writing, journaling.
    Researching and learning about real world knowledge (homesteading skills)
    And the most important is spreading as much kindness as possible onto others, it is the only way to beat the ugliness and anger that is out there right now. The majority of people on this planet are good, kind human beings…just some cruel people have control over the screens and that is what most people are seeing all the time. No wonder we are all getting so sad.

    God is always by our sides and we should always remember that and spread kindness and love as much as possible.
    Stay safe and God bless you and your family. May only good things always come your way this New Year.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I to did less blog reading in December and focused more on my traditional pre-Christmas activities. (making Christmas gifts)

      The stories of your neighborhood make me even more grateful to live in in a rural area.

      I think your family will benefit greatly from the activities on your list.
      You last paragraph brought to mind this verse.
      Matthew 5:16
      In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
      We wish you and your family all the best in 2021. God bless.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Thank you Ruth, this is what I needed to read right now. Best to spread love out to the world as much as possible. I am not doing a lot of reading this month either, just trying to get things more structured in our life right now. Eventually we will be moving away from this city, not sure where to go. might even decide to move sooner then later. Moving during a pandemic is also not so fun. Hopefully things will start calming down here in our city and we won’t have to leave. I have discovered I love the country more anyway.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Hi Ruth – First, congratulations on completing your goal of the “55 Things” series of blog posts. I don’t know what I would change to be honest. With the exception of limiting errands or excursions where I will interact with people, due to my fear that I will contract COVID, especially after the uptick in cases/deaths in our state, life pretty much was the same as before. Since I load in groceries every Fall to last until April, those early months in pandemic did not affect me as I just didn’t need to go to the store and I’ve worked from home the last decade, so nothing new to learn. I don’t know how Zoom works, but my boss has had to learn for work and teaching. No one comes to the house except service techs, so that is the same. I did not accomplish anything in my “down time” as I had no “down time” and I’m going to write about that in my next blog post. You, on the other hand, were just as industrious as ever at the farm and home. Happy New Year Ruth!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks Linda. I am working on a follow up post on my 55 things series. Like you our lives didn’t change too much because of restrictions and we keep stocked up on supplies and food so didn’t find ourselves without anything. I wonder if many people have started keeping extra food and supplies as a result of this experience or if it’s just business as usual.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’ll bet people start keeping food now – at least canned items and non-perishables. I know when I returned to shopping, that I’d see many non-perishable items were low on shelves and Meijer had signs (these are popular items) and had a limit on them. Even oatmeal, peanut butter … a limit. I have oatmeal every day and have for years. So, I always had extra around. I think people will learn from this pandemic Ruth.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I thought that the way they were limiting items was unfair and even somewhat counter productive as it was based on number of people shopping and not number of people who they were shopping for. I could buy the same amount if I was shopping for one person or six people. If I needed more of an item to supply more people then it would require extra trips or more people – things we were trying to avoid.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Yes, that’s very true Ruth. I am glad I did my bulking up on groceries to last all Winter back in October before the surge in cases began in the cold weather and supplies of so many things were limited. It was crazy that you could not buy paper products or cleaning products due to the limits and I never saw them on the shelf half the time to begin with. I kept hearing just that – don’t overbuy, go once a week, but who wanted to keep returning? If I went out then, or now, I combined all errands for one day … so one day to mix and mingle in germs before I came home to my own personal bubble. I’ve done that since March and have not gone on any errands since November 23rd. (I hope not to either – I’m not liking the latest stats for Michigan).

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Ruth,
    I have very much enjoyed your Blogs.
    I’m working my way back its not easy. Not just the World situation but a LOT of stress with my Profession as a Realtor. I was super busy with very challenging situations. Last closing on December 28th. I took a Deep breath knowing all my Clients were in their Happy Place. Now time for me to get my soul in the right place. Your Blogs help to ground me and I am sure others.
    I will fight my way back as I always do knowing how very lucky I am. You have a blessed new year. I look forward to to your 2021 Blogs as spring approaches. Life begins new. With love Cheryl

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Cheryl. I don’t envy the challenges you faced with trying to remain focused on getting the job done and keeping everyone happy and learning to work within all of the restrictions. I’m glad that the year had a happy ending for you and your clients.

      Protecting our mental and spiritual health is a huge part of being well. Be well my friend! I wish you many blessings in the new year. As the snow flakes are falling I’ll remind us both that the days are now getting longer so we know spring is coming. 🙂 🌞🌷

      Like

      Reply

  5. I totally agree with your list. There have been many times I have heard my husband wish for a crystal ball so he might see into the future. As for me I prefer to live in the moment. Right now, today we are all safe and well, and for that I am greatful. Only God knows where our journey is leading us. Hindsight makes me appreciate all that He has brought me through ( and sometimes makes me wonder how I am still here ) I truly believe that more people need to unplug from the craziness of what may or may not come and simply enjoy living in the moment.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I agree, not knowing what the future holds forces us to have faith. I always think even if I did know I’d probably screw things up anyway so best just to trust God and be grateful for now.
      I think one of the best things about living in the moments is if it isn’t a good moment it’s not going to last. A moment isn’t really a defined length of time so if I am feeling sad or angry for a moment it doesn’t have to ruin my entire day.

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thanks Anne.
      In my list blogging falls under keeping life as normal as possible. Since online interactions were encouraged blogging is a great way to stay connected, but many times I felt uninspired to write and it took extra effort to do so. What really kept me going was my commitment to my “55 Things series” and the encouragement I have received from readers.
      Happy New Year to You and Yours!
      P.S. Your posts are always a delight to read. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

      1. I can see that blogging falls under keeping life normal. My life has been a bit more normal than usual, since I’m spending more and more time on the blog. How do you cut down without cutting out??? Guess I need to read faster.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I don’t think it is a bad normal especially when the weather outside is frightful, as it is here today. But as a farmer cutting down without cutting out would be called pruning and produce new growth or strong, healthy plants.

        Like

I would love to hear from you.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s