Why we Hate 2020, Although it could’ve been Our Best year Ever.

2020 has been weird and wonderful

2020 has been a weird, crazy, and erratic year, we were going to war, then Kim Jong Un came back to life, and then COVID-19 came along, nice. As much as we hate 2020, I think it could’ve been one of the best years ever for humanity.

2020 Was Uncomfortable.

It made us embrace discomfort in a similar way of getting thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool. We had to swim, flap our hands about or we’d drown.

Being locked indoors without much to do was surprisingly difficult for some of us, we hate 2020 because we hate discomfort, but what’s wrong with discomfort?

I remember when I first started going to the gym, I struggled to do ten push-ups, but now, I can do 50 with ease. The other day I noticed that I had stretch marks around the bicep and tricep areas.

Any gym bro will tell you that to build muscle you need to tear your muscle a bit to let it expand. Muscle tears are uncomfortable, but isn’t this a biological explanation that discomfort leads to growth?

Human’s hate discomfort because of our inbuilt defence mechanisms, so when we were fighting sabre tooth tigers, we learnt that fire can harm us, so now the modern toddler is advised by his mother to avoid touching fire. This is good since it stops us from doing harmful activities.

The fault with this mechanism is that it conditions us to avoid discomfort ruthlessly. We hate 2020 because we couldn’t avoid it, you can predict the future and then time travel.

The hard truth is you have to love discomfort.

So this year, I decided to do some uncomfortable stuff, for example taking cold showers. When cold water hits you first thing in the morning, you scream or, in my case, I start singing, but every time I’ve left the shower, I have felt good.

I got the idea to write this article when I was taking a shower.

Now you don’t have to take a cold shower, but you could do one uncomfortable activity daily. Pick your activity, and please don’t overthink it, the best way to embrace discomfort is to do something.

2020 was Boring.

No festivals, Zoom quizzes, no in-crowd sports games and lockdown made 2020 the most boring year yet. It was like being locked into the deep end of a swimming pool, cold, lonely, and some of us felt like we were drowning. People who had great mental health under ordinary circumstances, crippled under lockdown.

We’re hedonistic beings, we need people to survive, it’s the reason why we still watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S and HIMYM, these shows revolve around a group of people, much like our lives revolve around a set bunch of people.

We got these people taken away from us, both metaphorically and literally. So some of us spiralled into loneliness, but what’s wrong with boredom?

At the Noble Prize ceremony this year, an eight-year-old went telling the worlds top scientists that she was bored, this is something that started in 1999. It’s an innovative way to stop speeches, but if necessity is the mother of invention, can the father be boredom?

I’ve noticed that words flow out of me when I write in complete silence, unlike Tim Denning, I can’t write with loud music in my ears, I get distracted, I go from listening to Dani California to watching funny cat videos real quick.

So I installed an app blocker, which stops me from watching YouTube and other distractions. I believe that’s also the reason why showers give you good ideas, you’re standing there with water hitting your face, in my case, cold water.

Charles Darwin came up with the theory of natural selection, he spent most of his adult life examining organisms, I’m falling asleep writing that sentence, it’s boring and repetitive.

Most of the greatest creative moments happen when you’re bored, Archimedes, who screamed Eureka did so when he was in a bathtub, which leads to the Archimedes Principle.

A simple trick to get used to boredom is to keep your phone in another room and keep a notepad beside you as you sleep, you’ll come up with crazy ideas.

2020 Was Full of Death.

1.42 million people have passed away this year from Coronavirus, 53 million people in total. Kobe Bryant, Juice WRLD, Chadwick Boseman, Sir Sean Connery and when you though 2020 couldn’t be worse, Diego Maradona.

Those are some big numbers and some big names, everyone knew who Maradona was, who Kobe was etc.

The reality is simple, you’re going to die someday, and 2020 served as a constant reminder of that harsh truth.

Hug your mother, say hi to your father, go get a partner and work your arse off to get your definition of a good life, why? Because it’s going to end one day.

Even if you were James Bond, it will either end in a coffin 6 feet under or in a crematorium.

Do you know what’s isn’t going to end? Most of humanity will go on wasting time, there are many of us watching Netflix, and not one episode, but a whole series.

Diego Maradona, 1.4 million COVID victims and 53 million in total, but most of humanity won’t change.

Don’t be like most humans. We have goals because somewhere we can achieve them, or at least to try to achieve them, you see ladies and gentleman, as much as I want a Ferrari and a mansion, I think the person I become in the process of achieving those goals will be the biggest reward.

This reward will stick with me, I might change cars or live in a different house, but the character always stays.

The clocks ticking every minute, don’t waste time.

2020 Brought Change.

This year has been different, it changed our lives. The ordinary office job was traded in for the gig economy, which meant that jobs like freelance writers and app development became popular.

We couldn’t socialise like normal, we had to use Zoom, which made communication harder, but our communication improved, we talk clearly and use our hands a lot more.

We don’t like change, because changes are uncertain, we don’t know what’s going to happen, so our internal alarm clocks start ringing, and some of us fear for our lives.

Don’t fear change, embrace it, but how?

If you’re scared of change, take action even though you’re scared. The first time I did a public speech, I messed up, I was scared, nervous and I couldn’t say anything more than Mahatma Gandhi and the Golden Rule.

After a few months, I spoke publically in a big hall during the school junior display, was I scared? Yeah. My stomachs aching while I write this, and those memories are flashing back.

I persevered, the next year, I was Razoul, after that, a host for a play, then №2 in the poetry competition, and then sports day. The more I spoke the less I feared.

Don’t get me wrong, I messed up during the poetry competition, by almost forgetting the lines to a poem I wrote, but the bottom line is, I did it, I conquered my fear of public speaking.

If you’re scared of change, do the thing scared.

Was 2020 a tough year? Yes, was it annoying that we couldn’t live our lives? Yes sir, but I would say 2020 taught me more life lessons than most years. It brought about change, discomfort, death and boredom, but you have to keep living life, and you have to make every minute count, so maybe 2020 was the best year ever.

Maybe.