All of us experience growth – from the day we are born to the day we die, our lives are a constant evolution; but this past year, for many of us, that growth has been stunted. Stuck inside, unable to see friends of family; wearing a mask and avoiding human contact; unable to go to work, school; unable to go on holidays or nights out. Our day-to-day lives have changed drastically.

Despite this, maybe this past year has prompted us to grow in a different way. I’ve learnt to appreciate the small things; I’ve thought about where I am in my life and where I want to be. It’s given me time to think about my health – physical and mental, and what I can do to improve them both. To improve who I am as a person. So maybe I have grown – not in any way I could have predicted, but maybe that’s the best kind of growth? The unpredictable kind. 

Although there are still many doubts and uncertainties, there now seems to be a glimmer of hope we can all reach for – a ‘return to normality’ – but is that really what it will be? Press the reset button and our lives will just start up again from where we left them a year ago? I don’t think so. No one is the same as they were a year ago – there is no reset button in life, and that’s not a bad thing.

We move forwards. We grow.