So with 2020 coming into your rear vision mirror......what did you take away from it?

[MMarbs]

Not a great year in general, but what a great year for Cuban tobacco.

But the key takeway: Rob and his team are amazing. 

[Islandboy]

I learned that if 2020 were a drink, it would be a colonoscopy prep. Thankfully the sh*tshow appears to be winding down.

[mprach024]

4 hours ago, Islandboy said:

I learned that if 2020 were a drink, it would be a colonoscopy prep. Thankfully the sh*tshow appears to be winding down.

Lol the barium milkshake

[Pag]

I learned many things. I was blessed to have left my government job in summer 2019 and started a private law practice. Somehow, we flourished in 2020 and I made enough money to pay off my student loans, which were more than 250k. I sat in amazement as my partner and I racked up success after success. My wife struggled working from home with the isolation, and the juxtaposition was stark. Thats to say nothing of my greater friends circle. I had some real close buddies struggle immensely financially. It got to the point where I couldn't justify keeping my success to myself, and felt compelled to make several loans to friends with struggling businesses. Really drove home for me the concept that no man is an island. I realized that my own financial success was measured less in what the money could do for myself personally than in what it enabled me to be able to do for the people I cared about.
My favorite coffee shop kept me company through some hard times, giving me a table, wifi connection and an ashtray when I didn't have an office. Now it was able to remain open based in part on a loan I was able to provide thr owner. My old neighborhood gym was able to pay some wages to employees during the lockdown. I may never get paid back on the loans I made, and I still owe the government for my student loans, but I feel far more content than I think I would have had I hoarded it all for myself. I feel better than I would have felt if I kept drawing my old government salary as well. That would have let me stay at my old level, but would not have provided the liquidity to help my circle in need. 
The biggest surprise was that had yoy told me hypothetically a year ago that I'd have enough coin to either clear my debts or help 5 close friends, I would have struggled with the choice. When push came to shove the choice was easy and I simply knew what the right thing was to do. 
I write this not to toot my own horn. I have noticed that this is not a novel mindset. Numerous other individuals I know who have prospered during this time have generously opened their homes and their check books to help out people who were in more fragile industries. IMHO this was the silver lining of the otherwise tragic year of 2020. Relationships are all that matter at the end of the day. Our society with its trappings is more fragile than it seems in the best of times, but it will crumble in an instant if we don't keep the foundation in tact, which is predicated on human beings interacting with one another in the spirit of good will. That is all that is really worth saving. 

I was reading through getting an idea what to write about my year.
It's been a hard year with some up and a lot more downs, but I have survived and will keep in trudging forward.

Your post is beautiful. A factual proof that their is still much good in the world.
It is very hard to celebrate victory when the majority our suffering near defeat.
I didn't once thing you were tooting your horn. I was witinessing a person with a huge and caring heart that stood up and helped when many Governments were acting like 7th graders.
Your post brought a few tears to my eyes, something that doesn't happen often.
I will end with this. For Humanity to move forward it will need many people like yourself and others to help any way they can. Be it shopping for an elder, helping your neibors or just saying hello to someone. People have closed out others with a me, me attitude. It doesn't work and will not work. We are in this together and the ones that promise help and hope do nothing. It is up to the regular Joes to step up and set examples.
Thanks for posting and Happy Holidays to all. Good will always prevail.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Akela3rd]

I forgot who said this originally, I wish it was me but it wasn't.
In a crisis, good people get better and bad people get worse.
This has been driven home to me, especially recently.

This sums it up a lot more politely than I would have put it. There's an awful lot of good people out there - quietly getting on with it, helping others, being generous, being kind - and there's a small powerful minority that have been taking what they can, lying, cheating and spreading hate and division to further their own needs and line their already full pockets. This year has starkly laid bare the divisions in our societies.
However, from that I hope that changes can be made for the better.
I truly believe in the good people of this world and that the members of this forum are sided with them (well, mostly...).
Self edited and avoided swearing.
Peace out FoHers


Sent by spooky action at a distance

[dshot]

I've realized a few things out of this.

1)Health is wealth.

2)Everyday is a gift. You could lose it in seconds.

3)Capitalism and Pandemics don't work together.

4)Having a dog became even more important. Having a 1 1/2 year old golden retriever became more of a support animal then ever.

5)I got more time to enjoy more double corona's!

Things I regret in 2020 is I didn't get to hang out on FOH zoom calls. My schedule just didn't work with the zoom calls maybe in 2021 I can hop on.

[Smatthews607]

I have struggled to see much positive from 2020. The closest I have been able to find are:

- a reminder of how vital what I do is. As I watched my students struggle with remote learning for the past 9 months, I was constantly reminded of the important work that we do day in and day out for our students. While the technology that we use can help in this process, it still takes a skilled teacher to make it work.

- while I have not been able to spend much time with family and friends, I have been able to spend more time having cocktails on the porch with my wife, which wasn't always possible when we actually had to commute to work.

[Yellot00tr]

Like the President says:

“It is what it is.”

Could’ve been better. Also could’ve been worse. Could’ve been 1 million dead in the US. That was where we were trending towards when this all started. Very very few people in April could’ve imagined that we’d have vaccines this quickly. God wills it.

[GavLew79]

So many from this year. 

- Thankful for everything I have. 

- I am extremely lucky. My industry barely got touched by COVID. If I'd have chosen a different path I could very well have lost the house. 

- Even more than before, cigars and a nice beverage are an absolute solace. I'll make time, several times a week even after the pandemic.

- Pandemics offer great stock market opportunities. If I had more money to invest 6 months ago I'd be pretty chuffed money wise. Unfortunately, I didn't! ?

- My team are reasonably productive at home. Give an engineer a laptop and the internet and they don't need to be in the office for non-practical work. 

- We waste so much time commuting. And emissions. 

- I can run. I'm still a fat f@#£ but I managed to do a 5k in under 30 minutes. 

- I hate running. My body and joints do not like running. 

- My Mrs does a lot more than I used to recognise. 

- We are only one step away from being alcoholics. 

- Coffee is fantastic. I used to have one or two a day and it was just a tasty hot drink. I realise now I need it to function. 

- Life is precarious. You're only a few missed mortgage payments away from destitution, you can go into hospital for a minor infection, catch COVID and leave in a box, good health is relative and positive thinking makes a tangible difference to quality of life. 

Merry Christmas/happy holidays everyone. Cheers ??????

[Kaptain Karl]

I had a really extraordinary year in my personal growth, especially since July. So my take a ways are very unique to me since I basically was torn down/tore myself down and reinvented myself. I used to live in the future and was extremely hard on myself. I expected nothing but the extraordinary. It was an antiquated mindset from my baseball career and it made me extremely miserable. So this year I learned to love who I am, to find self fulfillment in the process (not the goals) and how to serve myself to enjoy and love life to the fullest in the present. I'm still a rookie at this new game, but it's an amazing new world for me! 

One thing that really helped me out was to insulate myself from anything negative. News, social media, etc. I cut it out of my life and only focused on what I control. It's helped me become far more focused and far happier!