MEMO TO 2020: YOU’RE OVER and I'M STILL HERE!
2020 was a year that forced us to make changes we didn’t want and wouldn’t have chosen to make, and we made them anyway. It was a year filled with disappointments, loneliness, disruption, and heartache for many, and we survived. It threatened our main sources of security, our health, employment, and relationships. It amplified our fears, tested our faith, and showed us we were more resilient than we ever thought we could be. It was a year we will never forget.
2020 was a year that forced us to make changes we didn’t want and wouldn’t have chosen to make, and we made them anyway. It was a year filled with disappointments, loneliness, disruption, and heartache for many, and we survived. It shined a spotlight on areas of our life that weren’t working and needed changing and those that we're stronger than we realized. It threatened our main sources of security, our health, employment, and relationships. It amplified our fears, tested our faith, and showed us we were more resilient than we ever thought we could be. It was a year we will never forget.
As the year comes to an end, I’m reflecting on my 2020 experiences to grasp the deeper meaning of what this year was all about because it just seems like there must be some deep meaning or significant lesson learned from living through a year like this, and the song “I’m Still Here” by Stephen Sondheim and sung by Shirley McClain in the movie “Postcards from the Edge” popped into my head. I love that song because it’s about resilience.
I looked up the lyrics that I’m sharing below and watched Shirley McClain’s performance that you can find at I’m Still Here — Postcards from the edge — YouTube. I think it can serve as a mantra for saying so long to 2020
and hello to 2021.
The beginning of the song goes:
Good times and bum times, I’ve seen ’em all, and my dear, I’m still here.
Plush velvet sometimes, Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I’m here.
I’ve run the gamut, A to Z; three cheers and, dammit, c’est la vie.
I got through all of last year, and I’m here.
Lord knows, at least I’ve been there, and I’m here.
Look who’s here. I’m still here.
We’ve survived ups and downs and unexpected and unwanted changes throughout our life. We’ve just had more of them in a shorter amount of time in 2020 that caused disruption and required rapid adoption. In the consulting world, we refer to this as “change saturation” and recommend organizations plan the implementation of change so people will be prepared and not overwhelmed. They would be “ change ready.” We haven’t had the luxury of planning for the changes we’ve been required to make in 2020, but we’ve been flexible, innovative, and creative — and we’re still here.
2020 provided me with many opportunities to practice what I preach about focusing on what is happening now instead of what might happen next and responding to an unexpected event by asking “what can I do” instead of “what’s going to happen to me?” This year I’ve learned that sometimes there is nothing I can do but accept and adapt to what is happening that is beyond my control. I’m sure you’ve had experiences in 2020 that you’ll be talking about for years to come. I’ll share three of mine with you.
My year started off on a high note when I left on January 4th for a much anticipated four-month cruise around the world that COVID turned into a cruise halfway around the world and unexpected abandonment by the cruise line in Australia, as the country was shutting down and flights were being cancelled. I was able to book the last seat on the last flight from Australia to the US before the country shut down and there were no more flights for 30 days. I was grateful to arrive safely home without contracting COVID and disappointed, as many
people were who had once-in-a-lifetime events scheduled in 2020 that were impacted by COVID.
I made the adjustment from going around the world to going nowhere and decided to spend my 50% refund from the cruise to redecorate. The new furniture had been delivered and the painting finished about two weeks before a large portion of my living room ceiling fell in, missing my husband’s head by about an inch. A couple of pipes in the bathroom on the floor above burst and the resulting water damage was extensive and disruptive for several months.
We lived with a revolving door of mask-wearing construction workers, that I prayed weren’t passing COVID along to us, coming in and out of the house daily. There were ladders, pipes, blowers, cords, and tools everywhere. We weren’t sure how safe a hotel or Air B&B was during COVID, so we managed to live in one room. I like my environment to be neat and beautiful, so living in a mess is stressful for me. I had to accept that there was nothing I could do, the mess wouldn’t last forever, and to be ok with dust, dirt, and noise. Thanks to good insurance coverage, I have an almost totally redecorated house.
After being overly cautious and successful in avoiding COVID for six months, we became overly confident and decided to take a risk and visit our granddaughter in Chicago on Halloween weekend. We both came home with COVID. The nanny was sick the day before we arrived and tested positive for COVID a few days later. The entire family was sick with COVID in less than a week. My husband, daughter, and I required hospitalization and the month of November is a blur, but it could have been so much worse. We’re grateful to have survived COVID and feel relieved to have immunity until we get the vaccine.
And so my friend, 2020 wasn’t the best of years for any of us. It has affected each of us in some way and shown us what’s important and what isn’t. We’ve learned how strong we can be when we need to be. The challenges we’ve experienced have forced us to be flexible and creative. In the process, we’ve become more resilient and ready for better times ahead in 2021.
2020 is over and we’re still here!
Happy New Year!
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© Rita Burgett-Martell; Organizational Change Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Executive Career & Life Coach — Strategic Transformations Consulting Inc; (415) 806–9484 | author of Change Ready! And Defining Moments
Originally published at https://ritaburgettmartell.wordpress.com on January 4, 2021.
