The Best of 2020

So . . . would you look at that. Today is the first day of 2021. 2020 is now behind us.

I think we can all agree that 2020 was not what any of us expected it would be. And I wouldn't be surprised if many people remembered it as, like, the year of COVID or something. Most will probably consider it a bad year--but was it really?

See, a year is just a year, right? It can be bad or good, but that all depends on how you look at it. That's not to say that, if you had to deal with some hardships this year, it doesn't count. If you did, I'm sorry that you had to experience those difficulties or trying times. I'm not trying to belittle your situations or demean you for having to go through them. However, as someone who also had stuff happen to him, I can say with confidence that 2020 was a good year overall. Different, for sure, but good nonetheless.

You see, it's all about focus. I'm choosing to focus on all the positive things that occurred last year, because it sets me up for a better 2021. Have you ever noticed that the people who are negative 24/7 always have negative things happen to them? And then when positive things do show up, they brush them aside for any number of reasons/excuses. Negativity begets more negativity, and the same is true for positivity. What you focus on, you amplify in your life.

Because I wanted to stay positive-focused, I decided to forego my usual Monthly HapPENings post today. After all, how different is it really going to be? I celebrated Christmas with my family, but didn't do much else. I finally finished (The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen), which was really, really good! I watched more movies at work and more anime at home. I played some games and didn't do any writing again. It probably would've been a boring post, and considering that November's didn't get any comments, I might have to look into revamping them or finding some way to make them more interesting while doing them less often.

ANYWAY. That was a bit of a rabbit trail. The point of today's post is that I want to share ten things that made 2020 a good year for me. I'm determined to start this year right, and I think this is one way to do just that.

1. I was still able to go to the city with my sisters for a hangout day in summer--not once, but twice. We've made it a yearly tradition for a while now that we'll go to the nearby city at least once in the summer to do whatever we feel like. In the last two years, we would take a surrey bike around a park, but that wasn't an option this time around. That doesn't mean we didn't have fun, though. The first time we went for burgers and milkshakes before perusing some Asian food stores and taking a nice, long walk in a park. The second time was when we went to Olive Garden for a supper of soup, salad, and breadsticks, took a shorter walk in a park (thanks to the overabundance of mosquitoes), and finished off with some fro-yo. I couldn't have asked for a better time with my sisters.

2. I did some more gaming on my own. I feel like I've gone through seasons of life in the past where I hardly get an opportunity to do any gaming, and I do notice. It was one of the best ways to get me relaxed and my mental health refreshed. Thanks to being at home a lot more often this year, I could start working more on my backlog of games--and trust me, it's quite the serious backlog. But I was thankful that I got more opportunities to do it, as it made for some very relaxing evenings. Which was needed with how work was this year.

3. I discovered Zoom. I had never heard of it before, and honestly, it was one of the greatest discoveries I made this year. You see, I had gotten the idea that it would be fun if Preston and I could watch movies or shows together, but we didn't know what to use to do that. We attempted screen sharing with Google Hangouts, as we used it for our chats, but it didn't work well. Before we could try Skype, I found out about Zoom, and it's worked like a charm. Preston and I began watching Attack on Titan together, and he is now as obsessed with anime as I am. We're now watching Ergo Proxy and Erased while we wait for S4 of AoT to be dubbed. My weekly hangouts with him have become even more of a highlight for me.

4. I've hung out with my sisters more, especially on Sundays. We practically have a Sunday routine at this point. We'll get up to watch the 9am online church service before eating breakfast, which has often been homemade cinnamon buns. Afterward, I'll watch a couple episodes of a show with my sisters. We used to watch stuff like The Flash and Once Upon a Time, but I'm so glad that we decided to ditch those shows and turn to anime instead--because honestly, it often tends to be leagues better. We convinced Tracey to watch Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia with us, and now we can all nerd out about them. It's been fantastic. Afterward, we'll go for a walk, sometimes to get a drink from a nearby café and sometimes just to stretch our legs. When we get back, we'll draw together at the table--though I sometimes do stuff on my laptop instead. Sundays have become even more of a favorite day in the week.

5. I decided to get subscriptions to Crunchyroll and Funimation. I figured I'd bring this up now, since I'm on the subject of anime. I'm not sure what exactly made me decide to try both streaming services. I do know that I came to the realization that there were a lot of anime that I wanted to watch, and not enough money to buy them all on DVD. I took the free trials on both sites, and the rest is history. I've watched so many amazing shows thanks to them: Tower of God, Ergo Proxy, Fire Force, Goblin Slayer, Bungo Stray Dogs, Erased, and Psycho-Pass (while also finishing Avatar: The Last Airbender and watching Ace Attorney on DVD). It's been another great way for me to just relax and enjoy myself. I definitely not regret getting the subscriptions.

6. I was still able to take a summer vacation with my family. Last year, we'd gone to a cozy lakefront cabin just a couple of hours away, and it was one of my favorite holidays that we've taken. We'd hoped to go again this year, and thankfully, it worked out. Sure, it was a bit different this time, as we couldn't eat in restaurants and had to order out instead. But it was still so much fun! I have nothing but fond memories of the time we spent together. I enjoyed every moment of it, and I look forward to whatever our next vacation will be.

7. I've begun developing my art skills. One of the best parts about the vacation is that I decided to attempt to improve my drawing. I used to just doodle weird people and monsters and whatnot. It never looked all that good, and if I attempted any serious drawing, it never worked out like I'd hoped. But while I was on my holiday, I figured it was time to try again. So I did, by sketching the antagonist from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. And it actually turned out . . .  not too shabby? My confidence grew, and so I continued drawing--going so far as to even do three sketches in one afternoon. My attempts grew less when we got back home, but then Inktober happened, and I chose to participate. Comparing my first piece to my latest one, I can see how much I've improved and (hopefully) I've begun to develop my own art style. You can expect an art post in the near future, by the way.

8. I gamed more often with Preston and Megan. In years past, our hangouts didn't happen quite as often, but it feels like we gamed nearly every week in 2020. I believe it started occurring more often when I got my gaming laptop (one of the other best things to happen last year). We started off by playing tons of Realm Royale. At one point, Megan and I were even competing to see who could nail a solo win first. She ended up getting that achievement, but I've had more solo wins than her since then. While we still play a lot of RR, we also ventured into Among Us, which always provides an interesting experience with every game. I'm so glad that I got to spend more time with them both, and I hope that our frequent gaming sessions continue in 2021.

9. I discovered that I'd let fear become normalized in my life. I know this is a subject I've talked about a lot lately, but that's because it's very important to me. God brought it to find several weeks ago while I was out delivering flyers for work, and it's stuck with me since. So often I've let stress creep into my life and been okay with it. But now I realize that all I was doing was letting fear run things for me, and I'm not going to take that anymore. I'm tired of letting it have such a huge effect on me. I decided that I was going to take back my life and live it in such a way that fear has no place. Since then, I feel like I've noticed a change. Not a big change yet, but a perceptible one. And I'm happy to keep that change going.

10. I have become closer to the people I deeply love. Throughout last year, many difficult things tugged at me. I wish those things had been different, sure. But I also realize now that they were turned around and were made for my good. One way that truth was revealed to me was through a different realization: that I had eight anchors in my life. Those anchors are my parents, my three sisters, and Preston and Megan, and Jesus. While my family was having a snack on Christmas Day, it truly hit me then, and I told them that I had no idea how I would've gotten through the year without those eight people. And then I started to cry--not because I was sad, but because I was thankful for them from the very depths of my heart, and because I loved them with every fiber within me. They are my closest friends and my greatest allies. With them, I am supported, encouraged, and blessed--and they are the main reason why I can say that 2020 was a good year.

To conclude: a day, a month, a year--even a life--does not have to be defined by the negative experiences. It is easy for God to turn those situations around and bring some good out of them, even if we may think it impossible. I challenge you to take a look at your 2020 and see where God has brought forth positive things despite negative circumstances. And as we march into 2021, let this question be on the forefront of our minds:

What will we choose to focus on?