5 Things I’m Grateful For in 2020

The world is still beautiful

It’s been a weird year for most. In fact, it’s going to go down as one of the most eventful years in history. It’s been a very sad year indeed, but I need not name the reasons why, since, well, you know them.

For me, it’s been a weird year for a whole other reason.

Everything is Working Out Wonderfully

I mean it. I can’t think of a single bad thing that happened to me personally big enough to write about this year.

No, I’m not boasting or showing off. I’m not saying “look at me, with my lovely brown locks and my perfect little life”. I’m saying “Yes! I have got this! (About time!)”

I am saying that the whole point of self-improvement, growth, and the answer to “finding happiness”, is to still be able to thrive at least emotionally during global pressures such as what 2020 has launched at us.

Nothing huge happened to me other than changing my own mindset. It doesn’t mean I am not affected by the awful circumstances that we find ourselves in though. It means I am able to not spiral, recognise my own achievements, and appreciate so much more than I used to.

Let me tell you 5 things I am overwhelmingly grateful for every single day.

#1 A Morning Ritual

The brief moment of stillness in the mornings, knowing I am up before many others and my creative self feels comfortable enough to come out.

I literally wake up excited every day. I am excited about the new opportunities and ideas that I’ll have. I look out to my garden, watch my cats chase bugs and leaves blowing in the wind, say my affirmations and my thanks.

My mornings are my boosters.

#2 Acts of Service

The fact my husband almost every day tidies something up – whether it’s the dirty dishes from a meal or the entire living space of our home that was invaded by our toddler’s toys. It’s not that I’m keeping count or that I want to make sure he pulls his weight around the home. It’s the fact that I notice something has been done when I didn’t expect it. He’s rushed off his feet in meetings all day and yet he still thinks to help out a little without me asking him. And while some would argue it’s the bare minimum he should be doing since he’s home, it doesn’t mean I’m then exempt from appreciating it.

In fact, I’m especially thankful for this because it saves me time – I’m a mother to a toddler, I have no time – so this is wonderful.

#3 My Cats

When I go to bed, my black cat, Shadow, almost always cuddles up to me while her sister Luna lies by my feet at the end of the bed. Shadow’s deep purr is calming and she has an aura of peace that is soothing and comforting, making the perfect setting for a good night’s sleep.

Cats (and dogs) calm anxiety. I originally looked for a black cat because they get rejected in litters. Because human racism isn’t enough. But when I went to meet Shadow, I noticed her sister Luna away from the rest of the litter and when I picked her up she was trembling with nerves. I could not leave her.

Shadow and Luna are best friends.

The reason I got cats was that I felt they’d calm my brain during difficult times. My husband worked late most nights and I barely saw him (or anyone) after work.

The loneliness was eating me up. I’d always wanted pets and I thought this would be a perfect time. I was newly married and beginning to think about having children, so getting kittens was the obvious next step at the time.

They provide endless entertainment. Shadow’s your chilled out, casual walk, binge-eating cat. Luna’s bouncy, sassy, and so affectionate.

I’m proud to say that neither of them have ever scratched or bitten anybody. Not even when our Tornado Toddler tries to pull their tails or hugs them tightly. They just stab me with a look that says “you owe me, mother,” while they either try to just wait out the hug or make an attempt to escape my son’s sticky but affectionate hands.

And I laugh.

#4 The Internet

Goddamn, what I would do without it I have no clue. Literally everything we consume these days is online. My new career is online!

My entire life is online. I back up my media, documents, and files, all online.

We don’t even watch normal TV anymore – we cast everything to the TV from our phones or use the TV apps.

#5 The Air I Breathe

On my birthday, September 15th, there was a fire in a warehouse less than a mile from my home. We were advised by the local government to close our windows and doors because asbestos had been found in the building and it was becoming increasingly dangerous just to breathe the air outside.

I’d been out for a picnic with my son and a couple of other friends when the fire started, so by the time I got home and found out what the black cloud of smoke was we already had ash on our window sills and floors. It was a very hot day so we kept our house aired until then.

Except for our son’s bedroom.

I had deliberately shut his room out from the rest of the house for the day to keep it cool for him to be able to sleep at night. His room is north facing and it’s generally colder in there all year round. I was *so* glad because it remained unpolluted. I felt so thankful for that clean air, knowing it was protecting our son.

Even the air I breathe is precious.

What Do The Above 5 Things Have in Common?

Notice that they are all things some people mostly take for granted. If you’re reading this, I can assume you have similar things you do/use. You have mornings and evenings, so you can make a habit or two that make you feel good during those times. You definitely have some access Internet to be able to read this article.

These are mostly your every-day things. They are considered a luxury in some places though — remember that. Some can’t even say they have proper healthy air to breathe. You shouldn’t feel guilty about that, but be grateful that you have it. The fact your physiological needs are met is awesome.

You need the basics in order to be able to have goals.

What would be the point of only acknowledging and being thankful for the bigger things in our lives? I cannot give attention to what I don’t have because that means I’d be neglecting what I do have. And it’s a hell of a lot! Already, I feel there is so much more to be thankful for that are even more obvious — I have two legs, two eyes, coffee, a nice park nearby, all the clothes and food I need. I could turn my list into a book.

I’m Excited About the Future

I really am. I will never forget how I repeatedly told my husband on NYE of 2019 that the universe will work for me in 2020.

It is my biggest achievement in a very long time, for I think everything we do, we do it for the feeling it will give us, of love and happiness.

The “bad” going on in the world is a result of a lack of both love and happiness.

Once we all start acknowledging how much we have as individuals, we can finally start working together to fulfil our potential as a human race. It all seems far fetched in the current world, but we often overlook the obvious. If everyone felt good about themselves they would be less hard on everyone else.

Introduce a little gratitude in your life and you’ll see your love and happiness grow.

Sylvia Emokpae, thinker and philosopher, is passionate about self-love, motherhood, and pro-race. See more work like this.