Look for the good in your 2020 year-in-review
Dec 31, 2020, 10:20 AM
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SALT LAKE CITY — Pandemics, protests, partisan bickering — as we look back at the year in review, we’ve seen it all in 2020 and then some. But psychologists say rather than dwelling on what’s bad about the year 2020, it’s healthier to look back and focus on what was good.
Finding the good in the year 2020
Family therapist Doug Goldsmith says calling 2020 the worst year ever focuses on the negative, without giving any credit to people for what they learned dealing with the issues of the year.
“Saying this was the worst year ever, this was a horrible year, is not mentally healthy. It’s important that we say and we say to our children is, ‘Wow. This was a year with a lot of new challenges,’ — and that families take stock of how they handled those challenges,” he advised.
One way to do that, Goldsmith said, is to look for reasons to be thankful.
“We won’t take it for granted that we can go out to eat and enjoy ourselves at a restaurant, we won’t take for granted going out to a movie,” Goldsmith said.
Salt Lake City residents rise to the challenge
KSL found a number of Salt Lake City residents who found silver linings to the cloudy year 2020.
One woman told us she learned to appreciate exercise and fresh air.
“Visiting on porches with friends and going for long walks in the out of doors in fresh air and seeing things you don’t always take the time to see,” she said.
Others mentioned stronger friendships and connections over the year.
“We went out on a Bear Lake trip after like, a week of knowing each other, and it was really fun, we had a lot of really good memories together,” another man said. “I kind of consider them like some of my best friends now.”
Still, others told us about new hobbies or skills they learned.
“Personally, I was fortunate enough to be able to make the most of being at home on the internet, taking a lot of classes, furthering my education,” another woman said.
Contributing: Paul Nelson
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