2020 Twenty Twenty MMXX
I did not publish a post in 2020. But I wrote more than I ever have. I decided that I needed to finally journal every day. So that was my 2020 habit to add. And what a year to journal every day.
How many days did I journal?
There were 366 days in 2020. One of the hardest years in history turned out to be a Leap Year. Go figure.
Out of 366 days I journaled 357 days. That's 97.54% ... here's how it looks by month:
Jan
26 / 31
83.87%
Feb
28 / 29
96.55%
Mar
31 / 31
100%
Apr
30 / 30
100%
May
28 / 31
90.32%
Jun
29 / 30
96.67%
Jul
31 / 31
100%
Aug
31 / 31
100%
Sep
30 / 30
100%
Oct
31 / 31
100%
Nov
30 / 30
100%
Dec
31 / 31
100%
January was rocky. Feb was a little better. The first 6 months were far from perfect.
Small and simple become strong.
If I printed a PDF of my writing, it would be 680 pages. And I didn’t realize that until I tried it this month. If I would've set out to write 500 pages or x amount of words last year I don't think I would have. I decided to only track consistency: just write every day in my journal about anything. It became a ritual that I would do before bed. There were times when I wrote at 1 AM or 2 AM. Sometimes it was only 2 sentences. I worked on not missing a day. I missed no days from July to December.
What did I learn? Small things build great things. And a great skill to develop is one that permits big thinking without getting overwhelmed at the incredible amount of work that it takes to get there.
You have to hold both the big idea in your mind while keeping your actions small and quick. Big thinking and tiny execution.
Final thoughts on 2020.
As I wrote in my journal on December 31st 2020 I found myself ready to move on from the year. I was done with 2020. EVERYONE was ready to move on.
But then I remembered how we all felt about 2019. I recall that 2020 was going to be a much better year. We were all so ready to move on. And then 2020 hammered us. So, why should we be in such a hurry to live in the future?
As I wrote, I realized that I needed to forgive 2020. (I don't know about you, but I've never forgiven a year before.) As I journaled, I started writing out things that I was grateful for in 2020. Expressing gratitude doesn't mask the mourning and grieving we need to work through, but it does provide a renewed perspective.
Turns out there were plenty of blessings; so many things to be grateful for. There were numerous unexpected benefits in a tumultuous year. I don't really like to call them "silver linings" because I think gratitude is deeper than that.
Gratitude is an anchored position from which we are better equipped to embrace reality.