Reflections on 2020
Lessons and takeaways from a challenging year
I know. You’re probably thinking, 2020 was abysmal! Why would anyone possibly want to re-experience it?!
While we completely agree that 2020 was unrelentingly terrible, we also strongly believe that difficult times like these offer valuable lessons that — with compassionate reflection — provide a unique opportunity to learn and grow.
If you share our philosophy, we encourage you to join us on this journey.
On the other hand, if you feel like you’ve done enough growing this year, we completely understand. You are the expert of your life and we trust that you’ll know when you’re ready.
But before you go, please know that we are so deeply grateful for you. Your faith and support provided us with the strength to push through moments of deep frustration and paralyzing doubt, during what has been the most difficult year for boutique clubs like ours. We are continuously inspired by your courage and commitment to invest in your health, despite the number of challenges you face in your daily life. We’re honored that you continue to place your trust in us and are willing to share your journey. We look forward to celebrating your accomplishments and the ones to come, in 2021.
From our family to yours, Happy New Year!
An Uncertain and Challenging Year
The COVID-19 pandemic is clearly one of the most prominent factors that made 2020 so miserable. As of today’s writing, around 1.75 million people have died from COVID-19, globally. Over 330,000 deaths have occurred in the US alone (The New York Times has estimated a toll of 377,000 lives). Of course, like the vast majority of our health epidemics, people of color are disproportionately over-represented among those who have lost their lives.
While recent medical advancements signal much needed relief, we’re still in this for at least another 6 months, which means we need to continue distancing to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities.
In the meantime, there’s still much more work that needs to be done in order to restore trust within communities that have justifiable reservations about a medical system that continues to repeatedly betray and forsake them. We are cautiously optimistic that recent conversations indicate that policymakers and medical experts are beginning to understand that it’s about working with us as we move forward, rather than making decisions for us.
The pandemic is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many ongoing systemic issues that are continuing to inflict an extraordinary amount of pain and suffering. Many of which breached our collective consciousness this year, after the videos of the brutal murder of George Floyd forced even the most privileged among us to confront their self-deception and acknowledge the dangers of being a Black American.
We are hopeful and encouraged by the growing level of commitment to fight racial injustice from policymakers, corporations, and our White friends, families, and neighbors. Let’s keep up this momentum to ensure that this dialogue continues in 2021 and beyond.
All eyes on Georgia to propel these efforts even further next month in January, when we will be celebrating the new incoming administration and our first Vice President who is a woman of color!
All of these positive gains and historical moments, even in the midst of a record-setting miserable year, just go to show how much we can accomplish when we work together.
The Little Things That Got Us Through
Remember, it’s all the little things that got us through the year. The time we showed ourselves grace when we struggled to mark off a single thing on our to-do list. The day we got out of bed and showered when what we really wanted to do was to stay in bed and binge Netflix. We also mastered virtual calls and to do things on the fly. No matter how big or small, these all represent important wins that deserve a lot more credit than we’re probably giving ourselves.
So, go ahead, give yourself permission to celebrate your accomplishments and resilience. Take comfort in the fact that joy can be found in even the most challenging and uncertain circumstances. This is a valuable skill that will continue to serve us throughout our lives, especially if we continue to cultivate it as a healthy habit. Here at FIT & NU, we will be practicing this skill right alongside you.
Grateful
Again, we cannot overstate just how grateful we are to share our journey and join in yours. We have exciting things planned for 2021 that are centered around what we learned this year and all of the feedback that you all provided.
Thank you for another amazing year!
