A note on Thanksgiving 2020 (This is a 100% positive post).
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There is so much to be thankful for in 2020, which I walked into it never knowing that it would be a special year with so many events happened. I would like to give my thanks to some of the most important ones.
First of all, I would like to be thankful that my family and friends are safe, during the two big major disasters of the year, Covid and the hurricane season.
Though Covid is still very active and tumultuous in every corner of the earth, Vietnam is a safe island, in which, my mom and dad (both has some kind of medical issues related to heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes) could be safe and live “normal” through the world’s chaos.
The hurricane season is the worst this year. The catastrophic flooding got hundreds of thousands of homes submerged, made a staggering blow to the livelihoods of millions of people, especially to my hometown, Ha Tinh. My parents are both safe through it and though there are some losses, yesterday, I’ve got a photo from my mom sending me a garden full of flowers blooming after 10 days of sunny subsequent to weeks of rain downfall, showing how strong and resilient the people of “Mien Trung” are.
I am thankful that all of my friends, colleagues, partners in all other corners of the world, Asia, Europe, Russia, America are safe. I saw the News that the cases of Covid in the US is rocket soaring and there are lines of thousand of people standing waiting for food stamps on Thanksgiving’s day, all of my friends that I know of are safe. From the dearest family of friends in Silicon Valley, USA to friends in SPB, Russia, thankfully, they are all safe.
I am thankful for my brother that crossed so many obstacles, he has graduated from his Residency and officially become a Medical Doctor. He is also getting married soon. As a big brother, I always feel obligated that I am not doing enough for him, but watching him from afar and seeing how much he has grown up, I am so proud.
Secondly, I am thankful for myself. Day by day, I step out of the bubble and allowing myself to challenge new things every day. Whist quickly adjusting to new “normal” ways of living and working (WFH) and re-learning, resetting myself, I smoothly got through my research (with 2 papers (1 to a journal, 1 to a conference) submitted and another one is in writing and teaching (first time to be a lecturer). I’ve discovered how much I love teaching and found a way to implement it in my future career. While discovering my teaching passion, many goals have been set and applied to social activities (chairs and talk to so many conferences, from self-organizing to big events that hosted by the university, from research related to social sharing), which breaks the stereotype of myself as an introverted and anti-social person. I also found my passion and managed to organize time for hobbies, 22 books so far this year have been read, many songs have been practiced and played on my guitar, so many photos have been sketched, many emotions have been translated into words and poems.
There are so many more things, through up and down, good or bad, straight or winding, thank you for all of those roads. 2021 is on the way. Thank you, 2020!
How’s about you? What are you thankful for this year? Have the difficulties of 2020 made it easier or harder for you to experience and express gratitude?
