The Silver Linings of 2020

At the end of each year, I often write a blog, or a post or something about how exciting the year has been and what my resolutions are for the next. But 2020 had been by far a weird year, with mostly grievances than happy endings. Quite contrary to the title don’t you think? We’ve all felt loss in some way, shape or form. The meaning of burnt out has taken a new level. But I feel it’s important to also recognise the achievements no matter big or small, or positive changes that have occurred, that has changed you for the better.

For what it’s worth, when New Zealand went into lockdown, I got to be with my dog 24/7 in the two weeks leading up to her death. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be with her at the hospital due to COVID, but at least it meant I had an opportunity to give her all the snuggles before she crossed the rainbow bridge. It also meant, that we were able to grieve her death as a family. We all had very different reactions (and still do), however, the lockdown meant we were in our safe places, and had the freedom to react in the way we chose to. Losing a pet is probably the hardest thing I’ve had to go through.

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The lockdown also meant, that suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands. Working from home, and being allowed for a walk each day meant, there was a lot of free time on hand. For those who like to be active and always engaged in something, this was probably a tough time. I struggled with it. I decided, that I’d had my guitar for 10 years, it was time that I did something with it. And with that inspirational speech that I gave myself, I picked it up and started learning the instrument. Learning the guitar is challenging, and I find that as I get older learning new things gets harder. I’d like to stick to this and improve my skills and hopefully create more gems like the below video.

This year, I also decided to do something that I’d been contemplating for a long time. It is health and fitness related. For many years, I was quite fascinated by the idea of personal training. Weight loss has been a struggle for me over the years. Whilst I can commit to the gym, I don’t think I push myself enough to do the hard yards. In my mind, I always thought that the trainer who gives you your programme at the gym, if you signed up for a PT session with them, they’d just take you through your programme, but dial it up a notch. Whether that’s true or not, that remains to be seen. Another thing that I’ve been fascinated by in recent years is boxing. I started my personal training sessions with boxing, and my trainer has whooped my *** in each session that we’ve had. Can confirm, I look like a fish drowning in water when I’m boxing.

COPYRIGHT: @MILGOS

During 2020, a lot of people out there have been forced to upskill and grow professionally. The word forced may be seen as a negative word, but I find it apt for this scenario. If we hadn’t gone into lockdown, personally, I wouldn’t have had to drop everything and learn and understand how to deliver digital events. I wouldn’t have had to learn the ins and outs of Zoom meetings and webinars – “you’re on mute” – is just the beginning. Business were forced to pivot and find new streams of revenue to survive the pandemic. Whilst this was stressful, I think it’s great that people not only grew professionally, they perhaps also had a sense of pride when they were able to put their abilities to the test and rise above it. On that front, I would have to say, that having a Minister, and CEOs from three Government agencies make the time for an event that I delivered digitally - Future Government Summit - has been humbling.

COPYRIGHT: @MILGOS

HON. JAMES SHAW JUMPS ON ZOOM TO DELIVER A MINISTERIAL ADDRESS AT THE DIGITAL FUTURE GOVERNMENT SUMMIT 2020

What are your silver linings of 2020?

MiliG