Lessons Learned #BlogHop #WednesdayBlogHop

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the Long and Short Review Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, where bloggers write on a common theme every Wednesday. This is my second year participating,

Today’s theme is what I learned last year.

My immediate response to that question is Wow, it was a year where everything felt knew, and each day a discovery even if physically it felt routine since so much time was spent at home. Emotionally, it was and still is a steady juggle between boredom, fear, frustration and a continuous search for hope in whatever guise I could find it. I took on-line classes, was able to reconnect with distant friends in enriching ways since the pandemic made it hard to go out, it made it easier to think differently about how and how I spent time with people.

I think the one real lesson I learned is the importance of not judging others. We are living in angry, divisive times where we need to come together in ways we have never needed to, and will need to continue to find ways to do so. Judging divides us, sets us against each other, allows an individual or a group of individuals to “be right” which gets in the way of finding ways to work together. I believe when we judge, we get angry, our biases emerge, we ourselves become less than we are capable of being.

We need to be our best.

Truth is, change isn’t going away and its not going to slow down. Control has always been a bit of an illusion we need for our sanity. I think sometimes that judging others is one way we use to maintain that control. So my lesson is to learn not to judge, and to try and be more empathetic. We are all scared but we need to find ways to be our best selves.

My wish is that we all learn to bloom in the sunshine we all share.

Please visit the other bloggers participating in the Long and Short Wednesday Blogging Challenge. I always enjoy learning from them and with them.