I’m sure that we’re all ready to say goodbye to 2020. This was the year of world-changing events. From natural disasters and racial injustice to the Coronavirus pandemic and controversial US elections, this was the year of the most extraordinary events the world has ever seen.
The most significant events that had an impact on the world, in my opinion, were the forest fires, Covid-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, development of the Covid-19 vaccine, Brexit, and the US presidential election.
Australia faced one of its most devastating wildfires which started in December 2019 and continued into the New Year and destroyed 47 million acres and killed at least 34 people.
On 9 January 2020, the world was informed by the World Health Organisation that a deadly virus was discovered in Wuhan, China. In just a few months, Coronavirus had spread around the world infecting over 20 million people which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.
This year an African American named George Floyd was killed by a white police officer by kneeling on his neck until he stopped breathing. The death of George Floyd and other African Americans started many peaceful as well as violent protests across the globe demanding an end to institutional racism and police brutality. As a result, the Black Lives Matter movement emerged to put an end to racial injustice.
In December the UK approved the Covid-19 vaccine which was produced and manufactured by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer. As soon as the emergency use of the vaccine was approved, the UK’s elderly population were the first to be vaccinated against Coronavirus.
The UK and EU finally agreed to a Brexit trade deal worth $905 billion as of 2019, many months of negotiations. The UK will officially cease to be a member of the European Union on 1 January 2021. The trade deal between the UK and the EU is considered to be “the largest bilateral trade pact in history” (Politico.eu, 2020).
On 3 November 2020, America voted for the next president of the United States. Joe Biden was elected to become the 46th president of the United States and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris was the first black woman and first Asian woman to become the Vice President. This was a victorious result in the most contentious election in history. Joe Biden beat President Donald Trump with 306 votes to 232. Unfortunately, Trump refused to concede, accusing the election officials of rigging the election.
These were world-shifting events that happened in 2020, but what about you? How have the events of 2020 changed your life? Were you able to accomplish your goals this year? How did the Coronavirus pandemic affect you and your family?
As we come to the close of the year, we reflect on our personal successes and failures and how we can do things differently in 2021. We also hope that our lives will somehow return to normal in the New Year.
As we hope for better times and more opportunities in 2021, now would be a good time to think about and write down the goals that we want to achieve in the New Year. We mustn’t allow the setbacks we experienced in 2020 to stop us from reaching our potential in 2021.
We may not have control over the external events that may affect our lives, but we can educate ourselves and make adjustments and look for new opportunities for personal and professional development.
Yes, the world has changed and we have been forced to do things differently, but as long as we’re alive, we still have the opportunity to make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others.
As we enter a new year, let’s start by having a positive attitude and let us look forward to new opportunities and a brighter future for us all. Things can only get better from here.
