I love this time of year, so full of hope and the idea of a fresh new start, I love to take this time and reflect on the past year and answer a few reflective prompts!
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in 2020?
Change is good. Change is scary and hard and difficult but more than all that, change is GOOD.
I left a cozy comfy job, a job I was good at, a job that I had invested time into, a job that I could have stayed at for the rest of my life to commute over an hour, I took a slight pay cut, I lost my seniority, I lost so much when I left but I gained so much more.
It was so scary, the full month between when I put in my notice to when I started at my new job, I was lost, I was anxious, I was terrified. There was a constant knot in my stomach.
It is one of the best decisions I’ve made. It has brought so much peace into my marriage and my family. I had no idea the weight of what I was carrying until the weight was lifted and I created my own happiness and work satisfaction which has bled over into our marriage and our family and our finances.
What did you enjoy the most?
I think the pool. I’m stuck between getting our pool this summer and biking. It really brought us closer as a family – I just love to be outside and kick the boys outside to play on their play set. Anything outdoors we just really enjoyed.
What was the best compliment you received?
Two come to mind: Carver tells me all the time that I’m beautiful and that I’m a cool mom ? and honestly, when it comes to being a mom, his and Gannon’s opinion of my momming skills is the only opinion I really consider.
I also had a former patient that I treated in the ER several times reach out and express her gratitude for my care. It was really sweet.
How did you fail?
I shared too much political bullshit on Facebook. I got sucked into election drama and thinking I was right and my way was the only right way. I think I may have hurt peoples feelings or seemed like my opinion was “right” or more important than theirs. Quite honestly, I’m afraid I damaged real life friendships in the online world. I’m committed to having an open mind and knowing that I don’t always have it right.
What were my most useful resources?
We have a mother daughter team that helps care for Carver and Gannon. The mom helps me with housekeeping every other week and they both take turns watching the boys. They are such a gift and a blessing in our lives and our family. They are a huge part of what keeps our family in working order – especially when the pandemic hit. And during busy season. They sincerely love Carver and Gannon and we are SO SO thankful for them.
Describe your year in three words:
Growth. Bravery. Unprecedented.
(Ha – I know people hate that word unprecedented now but like, it really fits 2020)
What are you letting go of in 2020?
SELF LOATHING. ANY voice in my head that is negative or tells me I’m fat, unworthy, I’m not good enough – that is no longer a part of my narrative in 2021.
Pick a question and leave YOUR answer in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!!
- The PERFECT Lightweight Tee!
- May 2023 – Quilter and Cross Stitch Tee Launch!
- The Text Message
- Family Pictures!
- Bike Adventures – April 2023!
What did I enjoy the most: the pandemic caused my husband and myself from letting go of using our sportscom center. We took up walking together instead. Slow and short walks to start with and now we walk 3.5 miles, 5 days a week together. Some days we drive to some new area and we walk that neighborhood and see something new to us. It has been really wonderful to share this exploring and time together. We will go back to the sports center but we both hope to keep two days for our walks.
This is an election cycle where it’s been really easy to get sucked into the drama online. I’m afraid I’ve been guilty of it myself.
Such growth! Congratulations on your multiple layered growth in 2020. As nurses, caregivers and corona survivors, we need to be gentle with ourselves in 2021. We will grow exponentially from our pandemic experiences and it will make us stronger health care providers, moms/dads, daughters/sons and siblings. Pat yourself on the back and tell yourself ‘job well done’. With the same healthcare challenges facing us in the New Year, go forth and shine!
What did you enjoy the most: Walking and biking with my husband, and having more time/flexibility to do it because my job went away.
Kalissa, do you have a link to your podcasts somewhere? I can’t see anything on the sidebars, but I’m known for missing things right in front of my face sometimes. Looking forward to more in 2021!
Relaxed, Cooking, Quilting.
3 words that represent 2020. I had retired from my 39year career in the Operating Room (CST 6y then RN), July of 2019. I had vowed to make no plans for 5 months. Little did I know that my 3 trips and 4 concerts to finish off my first 12 months of retirement would all be cancelled. I embraced my newfound life of ‘nothing on the calendar’ and continued all the way through 2020.
We were accustomed to eating out 3-4x/week. That came to a roaring stop.
I had oodles and oodles of time to quilt. I finished 52 and donated 46 of those to local organizations. And 3 were Christmas gifts to family.
And relaxed. Oh my yes. I decided not to let Covid stress me out. I utilized my Infection Prevention expertise, and went about my life. I did seriously miss my 2 monthly quilting group gatherings but cancelling those was the right action. I hope for a 2022 resurrection of both!
Happy New Year to you Kalissa! I wish everything for you and your family to enjoy this time in your life.