The Good Things About 2020 ... Able Tasman National Park Sea Kayaks

 

 The Good Things About 2020 …

You’ve had to look hard for positive news in 2020, the year Covid 19 dominated the worlds headlines. Let me help you dig some out!

In April 2020, as in many other places around the world, we suddenly found ourselves locked down at home with our immediate family. This must have been a very trying time for anyone by themselves, and an absolute nightmare for anyone in an abusive relationship. My heart goes out to them, to those who did and are still suffering financial stress, and especially to those who have lost loved ones.

Here in New Zealand, we dutifully did what we were told. We stayed at home and went for what felt like, but was not, a mandated walk every day. We had no option but to ditch the takeaways so cooking and growing your own vegetables flourished.

Long neglected hobby boxes appeared from dark cupboard recesses, to remind us that once we used to find the time to do the things we enjoyed. Commutes were swapped for more time with books, or pets, or family. For me it all felt strangely nostalgic! A bit like a holiday from the 70’s or 80’s!

In New Zealand our summer holidays collide with our Christmas holidays to make a culturally epic annual event known, in typical Kiwi style as, ‘The Holidays’. From about the week before Christmas and for most of January, with the sun beating down, the country goes into a frenzy of holidaying with family and friends. Growing up in New Zealand it is during these holidays that you form your most memorable memories. The memories that define you. The memories that define your relationships with your family. Perhaps it is part of getting older but over time it feels as though these holidays have become somewhat watered down. They have become smaller, more commercial. No longer long enough or designed to reflect and recharge, so that you are ready to hit the next year running and with goals in mind.

In 2020 the approaching Holidays feel different. It is as though we re-learnt something during lockdown. We have become more thankful for what we have. Thankful for the fact that we live in a sparsely populated isolated island paradise. Thankful that our political system delivered a mostly united front of common sense in its successful fight against the virus. Thankful that our elderly and frail are still with us.

We have all been reminded to look out for one another, and to not sweat about the small stuff. Life’s too short for that! We are reorganising our lives to try to hang onto some of the positives that we felt during lockdown. And we are taking this attitude into a period that coincides with go-getter Kiwi Expats pouring back into the country. They are attracted by the above, and often accompanied by cleverness and bags of innovation and money.

So, I think the 2020 Holidays are going to be great, memorably great! A supercharged nostalgia flavoured happy period as we celebrate who we are and what we have. As New Zealand comedian Fred Dagg (John Clarke) use to sing in the 1970’s… We don’t know how lucky we are".

And 2021? With a vaccine roll out close now, Covid will soon become a memory, but I believe the positives will stick around. So get out there and make every day a positive and active one. Be thankful for what you have and pack as much life into your life as you possibly can.

From all the team at Kiwi Superfoods, we hope you fill your Holidays with bags of positive memories and live life to the fullest. All the best.

By Glenn Hughes

Glenn Hughes is the Co-Founder of Kiwi Superfoods. Put more Life in your Life with their amazing Broccoli Sprout Powder and Blackcurrant Skin Extract products. www.kiwisfs.com