Is it just me, or have the words “Hindsight is 2020” been popping into your head, over and over this year too?
The meaning of this saying, of course, is that when we’re going through something, we usually can’t see it as it is, but in hindsight it’s perfectly clear.
For instance, when we do something we regret, looking back, we can see the warning signs and where we went off course in our choices. Or we can look back and see that another choice was much smarter than the one we chose.
But we did the best we could with what we knew at the time, and we can give ourselves grace for that. As Dr. Maya Angelou said,
“Do the best you can until you know better, then when you know better, do better.”
We are exactly halfway through 2020, a year so packed full of curveballs, we’ve instinctively learned to duck at the slightest hint of more bad news. It has been a challenging year, to say the least, and the challenges continue still.
It can be overwhelming to look back, and it certainly feels challenging to see the hidden gifts when we’re in the midst of so much turmoil.
But perhaps 2020 is meant to be a year of hindsight. A year where we can see our past actions and priorities with clarity.
A year for us to know better, so we can do better…
From the moment we were quarantined, we had no choice but to slow down. This was challenging for most of us who are used to the rush of adrenaline that comes from moving from one thing to the next, checking things off our to-do list and coming up for air only when absolutely necessary.
But in hindsight, it’s clear that slowing down, uncomfortable though it might have been, allowed the things that truly matter to quietly rise to the surface of our awareness.
One of the main points of clarity for me so far in 2020 has been the realization that 90% of what I thought was important, really isn’t. The other 10%? Those are the people and things that truly matter. That is where I plan to put my focus moving forward.
Another priceless takeaway has been a gut-level understanding of how connected we all are.
If one of us hurts, we all hurt.
I talk a lot about self-love, and the importance of prioritizing our own happiness. This goes back to something else I talk a lot about, and that is that genuinely happy people aren’t mean. On the contrary, when we’re happy, we love more. We spread light in every interaction we have, and our instinct is to HELP, to LOVE. We feel genuine joy by lifting others up, and self-love sets the foundation for this.
That feeling of joy is my gauge for “success” in my life.
What have you learned during the first half of 2020? About yourself? About other people and their experiences of life? About what you value? Take a moment and think about this. Better yet, pull out your journal and make a list. You can call it your “Hindsight is 2020” list.
What treasures are hidden in the rubble?
2020’s lessons are infinite. But if we can just grab hold of the main lessons that ring most true to us, we will come away from this year better individuals… and better together.
So before we hurry to put 2020 in our rearview mirror, maybe we can take the last half of the year to honor what we’ve learned in the first half, and integrate it into the life we want and the people we want to be moving forward.
There is an inherent gift in the clarity of hindsight. Perhaps this year, in all its pain and discomfort, offers us a gift we didn’t realize we so desperately needed – perfect 2020 vision of what truly matters.
To knowing better,
Xx Jen
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