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Andrea C. Neil

Andrea C. Neil

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Thriving in 2020?

September 1, 2020 2 Comments

Um, hey 2020, wtf?

To put it lightly, 2020 has been a real game changer. Some people temporarily lost their jobs. Some people permanently lost their livelihood. Others have lost their lives. Unless you live in a cave on a deserted island, this year has changed your life in ways you probably couldn’t even comprehend 12 months ago. Yet, here we are.

In the fall, I start to reflect on the current year and begin to think ahead to the next one. How does this year feel? Is it going how I thought it might? Based on what I’ve experienced so far, what would I like to see going into the coming year?

You probably do this too. Have you had any thoughts? Usually this process happens a little later in the fall, but hello, 2020. I’ve been thinking about it all year already.

At the end of each year, I like to pick a word as a theme for the coming 12 months, based on the answers to the questions above. Last year, I decided my word for 2020 would be thrive.

I felt like 2020 was going to be a good year. I wanted to get past having a lack mindset. I wanted to move ahead and write, and do authory things and, well, thrive. Then Covid-19 came along.

There are seven stages of grief, and honestly I think there are about one million stages of Covid-19 pandemic grief. I was in a funk for almost five months. It was more like a constant mood swing, from fear to depression to manic good cheer back to depression. And a million variations in between. When I’d think of my word, thrive, I’d say to myself yeah, right! What an ironic word to come up with.

All I could see some days was poor leadership or bad choices or fear mongering or butt-kissing or fake news or death. Other days were peaceful, a few were nice. Through it all, I published a book, finished a second one, and came up with ideas for a few more. And last month it finally hit me. I was thriving.

The thing is, I haven’t been thriving in the way I thought I was going to. Or rather, thriving in 2020 looks very different than my idea of thriving, way back in 2019. Nothing looks the same as it did in 2019!

So what is thriving?

Merriam-Webster defines thrive this way:

  1. To grow vigorously; flourish
  2. To gain in wealth or possessions; prosper
  3. To progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances

Sometimes, if we get stuck on the details of how something should look, we set ourselves up for great disappointment. But if we focus on how we want to feel, and why we want to feel that way, the details will work themselves out. Of course I wish that none of this pandemic stuff ever happened. Of course I wish we were all well and that life was “normal” and kids could go to school without their parents or teachers worrying. But we’ll get there, sometime.

Until then, I’ll bet you can find a few ways to thrive. They just might not look like they did before, but that’s okay.

“thriving” on my birthday, 2020

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Filed Under: law of attraction Tagged With: 2020, thrive

About Andrea

Andrea C. Neil is the author of the Beverley Green Adventures and Days Are Beautiful: 100 flash fiction stories. She's a Southern California native, currently living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When not writing, Andrea teaches yoga and enjoys knitting, drinking coffee, and honing her introvert skills.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beckette says

    September 9, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    I lived in Edmond for two years so a modern story (Sasquatch) set in Guthrie caught my eye. I too assign a word to each new year. This year my word was “free” and 2020 has brought me freedom in ways I did not expect. And yes, I too am thriving.
    Beckette
    Plano, Texas

    Reply
    • Andrea says

      September 9, 2020 at 8:46 pm

      Nice! It’s interesting how this year has made us change our perspective – and still find ways to thrive and be free. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

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Andrea C. Neil is the author of the Beverley Green Adventures and Days Are Beautiful: 100 flash fiction stories. She's a Southern California native, currently living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When not writing, Andrea teaches yoga and enjoys knitting, drinking coffee, and honing her introvert skills.

My books on Goodreads

Andrea C. Neil's books on Goodreads
Beverley Green: Sasquatch Hunter Beverley Green: Sasquatch Hunter (Beverley Green Adventures #1)
reviews: 12
ratings: 17 (avg rating 4.59)

Beverley Green's First Territorial Christmas Beverley Green's First Territorial Christmas (Beverley Green Adventures #2)
reviews: 7
ratings: 11 (avg rating 4.73)

Days Are Beautiful: 100 Flash Fiction Stories Days Are Beautiful: 100 Flash Fiction Stories
reviews: 8
ratings: 7 (avg rating 5.00)

Beverley Green Finds True North Beverley Green Finds True North (Beverley Green Adventures #3)
reviews: 4
ratings: 9 (avg rating 5.00)

Beverley Green Comes Home Beverley Green Comes Home (Beverley Green Adventures #4)

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I can't believe it's almost time for the 4th installment of this very weird short story! It's been so fun to write. Griffin and her two grandmas are a wild bunch...
And the momentum gained while writing this has propelled the next full-length book project into existence.
YAY!
Read the Ring Bling in my monthly newsletter, sign up at acneil.com/newsletter
#amwriting #writer #writersofinstagram #wip #shortstory #writersgonnawrite
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Sometimes I look at photographs I took in the early days of The Big P, and I’m profoundly moved. It was so emotional for me - and for many others, I know. Things are so different now. Not “the same as before,” but a new same as before. I won’t ever forget those quiet, angst-filled days. The book I wrote during that time, “Days Are Beautiful,” is a work I’ll always be very proud of. 100 stories that are 100 words each. Like it was a teeny tiny way to control what was going on. DAB is available at all the book places, if you’d like to pick one up. ...

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Part Three of the Ring Bling comes out next week to all newsletter readers!
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Part Three of the Ring Bling comes out next week to all newsletter readers!
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