All of our lives, we’ve heard it said over and over again:

“Hindsight is 20/20.”

Normally offered when something has happened and we’ve had a little time to reflect on it, I always assumed the 20/20 in question referred to eyesight, and perhaps at least in theory and in the moment it did. But not anymore – to be sure, the most humbling and powerful hindsight most of us have experienced was actually the year 2020.

Ironic, isn’t it? What. A. Year.

Think back to 12 months ago and how blissfully blind we all were to the tsunami of everything that was about to arrive on our individual and collective doorsteps. If 2020 hasn’t caused you to reflect and find a deeper appreciation for things you probably took completely for granted before, then maybe it’s time you did so.

Let me offer to you some of the things that came into stark focus for me in 2020 that I now know I took for granted. 

Handshakes — Good ol’ firm, simple, ‘hey there my friend, so good to see you’ handshakes. Because of 2020, now when you reach your hand out you aren’t sure if the other person will offer a fist-bump instead or just pull their hand away entirely in the interest of not making contact with you (of course, it’s nothing personal, right?). 

Sneezes —  Before 2020, when someone sneezed there was normally a chorus of “God bless yous” heard from people around them. Now those same people look at the sneezer like they just released a nuclear cloud into the atmosphere. 

Shopping — Did you ever think you would see stores actually limit the number of people allowed inside them? 

Sporting events — I never, ever thought I would ever see big college and high school football games in the South played in stadiums filled to 25% capacity and be considered “sold out,” much less games/seasons being cancelled. Now I know better. 

Theater/arts — Be it live performances, concerts, or something as simple as going to the movies, a year ago it would’ve been unthinkable that all of them (as well as many who work within them) would be essentially on life support within a year. But now they are. 

Public festivals — If someone would’ve come up to me last December and said “there will be no Rose Festival or Victorian Christmas in 2020…” I would’ve probably snickered at them. Not anymore. 

Hugs and kisses — This has probably been the most passionless year in centuries. Can you imagine being afraid to hug someone? You can now. 

School — Yep, even grizzled old teachers like me took for granted just how important our schools are to the everyday operation of life in America. And guess what? So did students — and their parents. I never, ever thought I’d teach long enough to hear a teenager say “I’m tired of being home, I want to go back to school.” But I have now. 

Travel — Those of us who love to go and do simply stayed and didn’t for fear of everything. Could you have imagined that Disney World and every other major tourist attraction would ever pretty much completely shut down at the same time? Now you can.

Church — Houses of worship chose to become empty buildings for perhaps the first time ever. Even getting together to pray was suddenly a risky proposition. 

Hospitals/medical staff — Of course there’s enough room for everyone who gets sick and plenty of people to take care of them, right? And if you need to get your tonsils taken out, hey, no problem at all, right? Wrong. 

Holidays — The 4th of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving spent inside your living room with just your immediate family? Never, you would’ve said a year ago. You won’t say it now. 

Family — Could you have imagined a time where our families could not get together for Christmas, birthdays, weddings, or even funerals, and would have to visit virtually or not at all (ever hear of Zoom 12 months ago)? Or our parents and grandparents stuck inside care facilities and families not be able to visit them, or even be with them when they died? Sadly you sure can now.

Common decency — Who could’ve foreseen the ugliness and senseless polarization we’ve witnessed smack dab in the middle of everything else? Of course people would just naturally be more kind and considerate while we’re in a national/worldwide crisis — riiight. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve undergone a real recalibration of my view of life in 2020. How could you not? If what we’ve been through the last 12 months doesn’t do anything but make every single one of us step back a little and look at the things we really, truly need to attend to in our own existence, then maybe, just maybe, the dumpster fire that was 2020 will have been worth it. 

As we finally get a chance to grab the handle and flush this mind-boggling year, let’s keep the lessons of the things we simply took for granted in our everyday lives fresh in our hearts and minds. As rough as things have been, if perhaps we’re just a little more appreciative and aware from here on we might just come out the other side of things better than we were before. 

So good riddance to 2020 as it departs, but welcome to the needed perspective it will provide for 2021 — because if 2020 didn’t provide you some 20/20 hindsight, then I’m afraid you’re already blind.