Sweat & Smiles: Twenty Lessons Learned in 2020
By Melissa Romano on January 02, 2021 from Sweat & Smiles
My growth as a person hasn’t come from my yoga mat or while sitting in meditation. It’s come from the mess and the fires … the ones I walked through and the ones I started myself. Growth has come in the midst of conflict - in the frustration, anger, grief, and fear. Growth has 
come from getting so sick of my own crap that I realize I have a choice to do it differently. The mat. the meditation, and the tools of just kept me standing while moving through it.
come from getting so sick of my own crap that I realize I have a choice to do it differently. The mat. the meditation, and the tools of just kept me standing while moving through it.
This year has not been short on opportunities for growth for us all. This year has been heavy in conflict, frustration, anger, grief, and fear. Allow this to serve as your reminder that in these moment you can choose growth, in these moments you have a choice to do it differently.
In honor of the wrapping up of this year here are twenty lessons I learned or was reminded of in 2020 (in no particular order).
- If you treat the unknown has if it’s something that is meant to be known you’ll feel anxious and weak.
- If you treat the unknown as something that you will work with as you create your options and your future, you’ll feel creative, decisive, and strong.
- It’s okay to lighten up. The goal-focused, do-it-all, get-it-done attitude can start to slowly seep the joy from our lives and hinder our sense of appreciation. Don’t forget that the journey towards even the most earnest goal should have joyous rewards.
- If it comes down to protecting your name and protecting your peace… choose your peace.
- You do not have to be able to explain your feelings, you need to be able to trust them.
- Sometimes the weight you need to lose isn’t on your body.
- Self-care also requires a community.
- You won’t fix an internal problem with an external solution.
- The bravest thing, the hardest thing, the best thing - is trusting yourself.
- On the way to where you’re heading it’s important to take pauses and celebrate how far you’ve come.
- It’s not “okay” to rest - it’s necessary.
- Church can happen anywhere and some of the best services are offered by nature.
- Sometimes all we can do it bear witness to what’s causing the rage.
- Change comes when we stop judging our bad behaviors and choose to get to know them instead.
- Sometimes it’s best to burn it all down and start over.
- When you’re in your own lane the traffic is lighter.
- We are called to love one another because we aren’t qualified to judge one another.
- You cannot control anything except how you choose to engage.
- If it comes down to setting a boundary and protecting someone else’s feelings, choose your boundary.
- Each moment is an opportunity to practice what you’ve been praying for.
As you move into this new year resolve to make changes as you recognize it’s time to make them. Always keeping in mind that while it’s great to stick to your goals it’s also important to honor that all of the lessons above came from non-linear growth. Sometimes we need to take a few steps backward so we can prepare for a big leap forward.
Happy New Year,
Melissa
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