Level Up Your 2021: Lessons Learned and Laughs from 2020
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that life can flip upside down faster than a toddler with a juice box. Plans were canceled, sweatpants became the official uniform of humanity, and suddenly the phrase “you’re on mute” became the anthem of the year. But amidst the chaos, confusion, and occasional sourdough starter failure, there were lessons—good ones, funny ones, and a few that might just help us level up in 2021.
First, the big one: adaptability. Remember March 2020, when we thought this whole “stay home for two weeks” thing would be over before our Amazon orders even arrived? By December, we were practically experts at pivoting. Birthdays on Zoom, holidays in driveways, weddings with more Wi-Fi than guests—2020 trained us to roll with it. If nothing else, we learned how to make the best of awkward, imperfect situations. And sometimes, those situations turned out way funnier than expected.
Lesson two: small joys matter. When the world shut down, little things took center stage. That first cup of coffee in the morning? Sacred. A ten-minute walk outside? A full-blown adventure. Even the sound of a package hitting the porch became the day’s highlight. Some people found happiness in puzzles, others in baking, and a brave few tried cutting their own bangs (jury’s still out on whether that sparked joy). The point is, 2020 reminded us to celebrate the little stuff—and laugh when it went horribly wrong.
Then there’s technology. Who among us didn’t become an amateur IT specialist overnight? Parents became teachers, coworkers became disembodied floating heads, and grandparents discovered the joys (and horrors) of video calls. We learned the subtle art of hiding laundry piles just out of frame and pretending our Wi-Fi froze when a meeting dragged on too long. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but 2020 gave us new tools—and some hilarious bloopers—that will carry over into 2021 and beyond.
And let’s not forget resilience. Between canceled trips, postponed dreams, and a whole lot of uncertainty, it would’ve been easy to give up. But instead, we got creative. Drive-by birthday parades. DIY concerts in living rooms. TikTok dances that kept entire families moving (and embarrassing their teenagers). Even laughter became a coping strategy. If 2020 gave us lemons, we didn’t just make lemonade—we filmed it, posted it online, and turned it into a viral meme.
So what does “leveling up” in 2021 really mean? It doesn’t mean pretending everything’s perfect. It means taking the lessons—adaptability, appreciation, creativity, resilience—and carrying them forward. It means laughing at our mistakes, savoring small victories, and realizing that life doesn’t always follow the script, but the bloopers can be the best part.
Maybe this year, we keep the sweatpants but add a splash of ambition. Maybe we still burn the banana bread, but this time we laugh before tossing it. And maybe—just maybe—we stop waiting for the “perfect” moment and start enjoying the messy, funny, unpredictable ride that is real life.
2020 was the plot twist nobody asked for, but it made us stronger, funnier, and a little more human. So here’s to 2021: the sequel where we take everything we learned, laugh at what we survived, and level up with a little more grace—and a lot more humor.
