As the year going to end soon, we thought of listing good things that happened in 2020.
To be honest, we didn’t think it would be hard to find positive notes across 12 months that have passed.
Even if the year 2020 turned out to be a difficult one to love, we found a lot of positive things as we firmly believe in the power of positive thinking.
That is going to help us stand strong and welcome the New Year 2021!
Psychologists use a basic test of ‘Half-Full, Half-Empty’ to understand whether a person is an optimist or a pessimist. As we know optimists will see the glass as half-full, whereas pessimists will consider it's half-empty.
We as optimists thought of focusing on the good part brought by 2020 in this article.
And we’re sure this list is far from extensive; we’d love to hear from you. What good things happened in 2020 that we’ve missed here?
Before we head into 2021 though, here are some good things that happened in 2020.
1. We Connected with Family, Friends, neighbours, Pets and Loved Ones like Never Before
The lockdowns left us with more time on our hands that we never had and not aware of what to do with it. Thankfully, all our friends and family members were in similar state. Before we thought of getting used to it, our lives were quickly filled with cooking experiments using online videos, experimenting with life hacks shared by people across the world, video meetings with long-lost friends, relatives, time spent with parents, kids, pets and many more things. Neighbours went from being strangers to second family.
This was an opportunity to spend all great time with the family we had to move away from for our career or other reasons.
2. 2020 made us learn new talents and skills
If our guess is right, almost everyone learned a new skill in 2020. We used the lockdown time to develop new skills and foster hidden talents. We got certifications from online courses, learnt dance, singing and music instruments using online video classes, exercised at home, cultivated herbs and other plants in our home gardens, baked delicious cakes and dishes.
The world got a lot many chefs, artists and musicians.
3. We Learned to Slow Down, finding the real ‘Me time’
With the outside world on hold, we rediscovered hobbies like yoga, reading, writing, painting, baking, observing nature around and gardening. We even rediscovered watching great content on the smart box via Netflix, Amazon Prime of the world!
The entire world learned to slow down and be grateful for these small everyday things.
4. 2020 redefined the term ‘Heroes’ for us
Superman? Batman? Spiderman?
Who appears in our minds today when we think of a hero?
You guessed right. Doctors, Researchers, Healthcare Workers, Sanitation Workers, Police, Farmers, Airline, railway Staff, Civic Staff attended their duties and provided us essential help during lockdowns became our real life heroes.
These brave front liners risked their lives every day to ensure all of us could live and work comfortably from home.
5. We became more kind and empathetic in 2020
We saw personalities like Sonu Sood as well as many corporates helped the migrant workers, labours who were worst-affected by the lockdown. We saw people showering love on Baba Ka Dhaba, fruit vendor Phool Mia in Delhi, a chaatwaala in Indore after listening to their difficulties. Indians lit diyas together, Italians in lockdown sang together from their balconies, large companies like Mahindras used their resources to manufacture ventilators, masks and sanitisers.
We learned to be grateful for the selfless dedication of nurses, orderlies, doctors and other health workers who risked their lives to save ours. We felt thankful to truck drivers, grocery stockers, farmworkers and so many more who risked their lives to keep the life going.
6. The world discovered WFH aka Work From Home
The year 2020 made us realize redundancy of a commercial workplace aka office. People discovered they really don't need to be in the office to be productive. Across the lockdown period more and more businesses went for WFH mode of working and later gave a serious thought on continuing it. Many companies like Microsoft, TCS, Infosys and Twitter have made the WFH option available for their employees forever, while companies like Google, Facebook have extended the WFH till late 2021.
7. The kids got LFH aka Learn From Home & a Life Full of Fun
The 2020 brought zero school days for kids literally. Looking at the lockdowns, to save the academic year, the education and schooling sector arranged for online classes for kids. This benefited kids in saving the academic year as well as getting extra hours at home to live a life full of games, movies and fun. They relished on the amazing home cooked dishes coming out of the cooking experiments by parents as well!
8. In 2020 Nature healed drastically, the Carbon Dioxide emissions declined
While we were inside homes during lockdowns, mother nature took her time to heal. The United Nations Environment Programme has claimed 2020 to be a super year for nature and biodiversity. Humans have been the dominating species since the beginning of time. While we were away, the wildlife also got to cherish its’ mother Earth. Dolphins, Olive Ridley Turtles, Deers, and Nilgais were seen on the streets, enjoying their time.
The Carbon Dioxide emissions dropped down by 17 percent due to the successive lockdowns which brought the industries to standstill and limited public movement. This helped in aggregating the overall emission control process as the cost of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind is declining more quickly than many experts had predicted earlier.
9. 2020 is been a comparatively good year for animals
Yes. The year brought good news about animals. In 2020 India estimated the leopard population within forested habitats at 12,172 to 13,535 as compare to around 8000 in 2014. China banned the production & trade in wildlife for people consumption. China's new Wildlife Protection Law now applies at sea for the first time, reducing its vast fishing fleet's massive footprint.
France banned the use of wild animals in circuses. As per Kenya, the lion population rose 25 percent from its 2010 numbers. As per ‘Status of Tigers, Co-predators & Prey in India’ report released by Indian government on the eve of International Tiger Day in July 2020, total big cat population in India stands at 2,967 as compared to 1,400 in 2014. As per estimates, India is home to 75% of world tiger population and the new target is to increase the tiger population to 6000 till 2022.
These were just some of the many ways 2020 was kinder to animals.
10. 2020 brought fresh air in our life. Literally.
Due to movement restrictions and a significant slowdown of social and economic activities, air quality improved in many cities.
11. 2020 introduced new ways of Movie binging
The strict lockdowns made governments shutting down public places like malls, multiplexes and movie theater chains. This made OTTs like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sony Liv a prime source of movie watching at home from any internet connected screen. Though this has made it difficult for entertainment business housed to bring people back to theaters to watch movies in.
12. 2020 made the oceans cleaner
In December 2020, 14 nations that own 40 percent of the world's coastline joined together to build the world's biggest ocean sustainability initiative. To simplify and visualize the impact, an area of ocean the size of Africa will be focused on restoring fish populations and coral reefs in parallel to eliminating plastic.
13. 2020 made the internet pass its ultimate stress test
A large human population consumed internet from home for work, study and entertainment across the day using apps like Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime, Skype and many such apps across screens and devices. More videoconferencing took place in 2020 than at any time in human history. Amazingly, with a few small exceptions, the internet infrastructure across globe held up and passed the ultimate stress test.
14. In 2020, a baby is born from an embryo frozen 27 years ago
A baby girl Molly Everette Gibson was born Oct. 26, 2020 to parents Tina and Ben Gibson, weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces. Her embryo was first created and frozen in October 1992 and stayed frozen until it was thawed on Feb. 10, 2020.
15. 2020 declared Africa a Polio free country
On 25 August 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) shared the news that there had been no new cases of wild poliovirus recorded on the continent of Africa since 2016. While other types of the virus persist, this is hopeful news.
16. The world came together to fight the devastating Australian wildfires
The January 2020's wildfires destroyed 18 million acres of Australian wilderness and caused around $3.5 billion in damages. But we saw the Australian people along with the world came together, gathered millions in donations and volunteer support for relief efforts. We saw American firefighters flying to Australia to help battle the fires.
The great news is, new greenery now starting to sprout from scorched Australian land.
17. Wearing Sweats, Shorts and Pajamas Every Day Became the New Normal
The work from home culture during 2020 lockdowns made sales of comfort wear like Sweatshirt, sweatpant, shorts, Tees and Pajamas through the roof. Comfy clothes reigned highest respect as we rediscovered the art of dressing for ourselves.
18. First Cheetah Cubs Were Born Through IVF
Two cheetah cubs have been born via in vitro fertilization to a surrogate mother for the first time ever at the Columbus Zoo. The cubs, one male and one female, and their surrogate mother, Izzy, are doing well after the birth in February 2020
19. Scotland became the first country to offer free period products for all
Local authorities in Scotland are now legally required to ensure that free sanitary products such as tampons and pads are available to those who need them. Definitely great news and something to be implemented across the countries!
20. Teachers finally got the public recognition they always deserved
While the frontline warriors fought COVID19 across hospitals, Teachers across globe used online classes as a medium to deliver education to kids saving their academic year. This was spontaneous because many teachers from countries like India used the medium for the first time but upskilled themselves fast.
21. Musicians used social media to give us personal concerts from home.
Due to the coronavirus restrictions, a group of musicians in Barcelona played the first-ever opera concert for an audience of green plants. The plants were then donated to health care workers fighting coronavirus. Similarly many musicians across the world used social media to give us personal concerts from home.
22. Oscars 2020 rewrote history
For the first time in the history of Oscars, a Korean movie, Parasite, rewrote history by becoming the first-ever international feature film to win the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture.’
23. 2020 made us realise the Importance of Small Local Businesses
All Businesses including big and small took a hit during the pandemic. Small businesses were already struggling due to online e-commerce sites earlier, but got hit the hardest during pandemic. Seeing the local businesses struggle, people came out in full support. A small mobile based business ecosystem thrived across the cities.
24. 2020 made us realize just how important travel is to our lives
Being used to hopping from cities, destinations to countries every other day, getting confined to one place for months was something very odd and uneasy feeling for all of us. Being able to travel is a privilege, a realization many had in the months they were unable to.
25. 2020 Gave us antiCOVID Vaccines and Hope
The researchers and scientists responded to COVID19 outbreak with extraordinary speed and common purpose; working across borders to decode the virus and discover and manufacture vaccines that can control the disease and stop causalities.
Thousands of people across the world volunteered to undergo the experimental vaccines tests, risking to themselves,to test safety and efficacy. The world stood united against the pandemic.
In our view, the glass what we got in 2020 was actually full. It had water in the bottom half and air in the top. What all needed was to look at it positively.
With this thought in mind, let’s say adieu to 2020 and enter in 2021 with a positive mind!
Make sure to get vaccinated in 2021. If it is charged, if you can, try to pay for those few in your neighbourhood who cannot afford to pay for it.
That will be one of the thing get added in your top 2021 positive things list 😊
Wish you all a Great New Year ahead!
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