As 2020 comes to close and 2021 enters, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the struggles and count my blessings. There are seven reasons why I am thankful for 2020.

1. Practiced Slowing down

We live in a very busy society, where being busy is often seen as a sign of being productive. And yet when we are busy, we don’t have time to enjoy the simple things like gardening, cooking or reading a hardcopy book. Using the time that I would commute to work, I found that I could go for a run, do a weight class or sit outside and simply enjoy the sunshine. 

2. My Health is my wealth

From the cold to the flu to Covid, I had caught it all. And survived. It wasn’t easy but I am so grateful that my family and I were able to recover fully. It is true, health is wealth and without it, there is little we can do. It is one of the biggest gifts we are given in life and yet very few realize until it’s too late.

3. Opportunities to grow as a leader

Transitioning from face to face mode to online and then back to face under the pandemic was challenging but because of my leadership training and volunteer experience, I was able to meet it successfully, with an awesome team and few lessons learned of course.

4. Having a Job

I am so grateful to have a job, when many have lost theirs. I am blessed to work for a company that values their employees and a supervisor that trusts and appreciates the work that I do. I have also started investing, something that I wanted to do for a long time.

5. A Family

My family is one of my biggest blessings. We have a big extended family but because of COVID 19, we couldn’t celebrate it the way we usually do. We still had a cake or two to celebrate the kid’s birthdays. Balancing work at home was surprisingly difficult but I am so glad that I have support from family to continue working.

6. Passion

Having a week or so off has allowed me to work on things that are close to my heart, the Khmer Krom issues. I realized how much I have missed the work and look forward to making time for it. I have started this website to ignite my passion for writing. I even landed a gig at UPworks and got paid for writing. Hoping this is the start of something wonderful!

7. Self Care

As a working mother, finding time for myself has been one of my biggest struggles. I found several ways that work. One was focusing on my health through exercise. Running has helped cleared my head and moved my heart. Likewise, having breakfast by myself gives me an opportunity for some quiet time. Reconnecting with old friends and family overseas has brought back good memories and more joy than I ever imagined.

What are you thankful for year?