From acceptance to beginnings
Life lessons from the remarkable year of 2020
For many of us, 2020 was about all about building acceptance. We started the year in disbelief and ended it with hopes around the new normal.
For me, 2020 was all about coming to terms with various things in my life. The process taught me an important lesson.
Acceptance is not an end! It leads to new beginnings.
Five Acceptances in 2020
1 — Accepting the world we live in
2020 was hard for many of us. But it was exceptionally difficult for outgoing folks such as me. I relish meeting strangers, and building new connections in places such as parks, cafe houses, & salsa clubs. Covid took all of it away.
In return, it provided an opportunity to live with the family and rekindle/deepen existing connections. I reached out to more of my old friends this year than any other.
2 — Accepting my commitment in my relationship
Awantika & I have been dating for years. And yet it took us (mostly me) a lot of soul searching to finally accept that we could go on dates forever. Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to realise who matters the most.
Traveling this journey from “You & I” to “Us” has opened a new book in our life, which we will be filling together in 2021. #Getting Married in 2021
3 — Accepting the chosen path in my career
I always wanted to make people’s lives better with my work. But, I could never figure out what this guiding principle meant for my overall career. 2020 was all about articulating some of these meaningful professional goals and recognising the hard work & sacrifices that pursuing these will entail.
2021 will mark the next stop in this adventure, Fuqua Business School.
4 — Accepting my limitations as a professional
It is hard to fail even once. But to see yourself fail every day, even after hours of work, breaks your spirit. There’s only one way to live through it: humility. I finally accepted that, even at work, I am just a human and not a machine or god. I can only work so much and control so little.
Folks in 2021 will meet a new me who is much more secure with his failures and shortcomings.
5— Accepting other people’s limitation
Other people are equally flawed — even the hallowed ones. They will make mistakes, commit follies, and do blunders.
2020 taught me to forgive others for their slips & to accept their limitations as I admit my own. 2020 taught me to see the world as more human.
2021 will be the year of new beginnings. I will start my married life, relocate to a new country (for a while), get back to school again, and pursue new adventures.
But a lot of it has been made possible from things that had happened in the last ten years since 2011 when I first left for IIT. 2020 has been a culmination for this long decade of finding and accepting myself — a truly unforgettable year.
