Episode 21: Embracing the 2020 Mindset: Better Together
It’s been a heavy time of reflection. 2020 has been so—different. What are the holidays going to be like this year? How do we even process the year? Lori shares her heart in this special episode message.
Takeaways:
Decide to sit in thankfulness
Take time to be with people and their emotions
Embrace the opportunity to reflect
Step into faith
Keep your family connected
The Question: What are you stepping into in 2021?
A Special Message From Lori Alvarez
Hey, hey, Real Estate Family.
It's Lori Alvarez, and it's November.
Can you believe it's November already and we're gonna come together as a family? Or maybe not. Because the reality is we have a different, different experience this year for Thanksgiving. It's exciting, it's different. It's just different. That's all I can really say about it.
And so I've just been reflecting on it over and over and over again. On what makes great sense for my family. As my physical family comes together because I'm always the hostess. And I always get to have all of this abundant food and people, and it's just overflowing. It's crazy in our house. And we love it that way. And we eat all day. And we enjoy ourselves and we say, grace together. And we spend time together and we share laughter together, and we share the fun together. And will we do it again this year? I don't know yet. I haven't made up my mind. Because I have family that just like, potentially shouldn't be there. Right? I've got an 87-year-old father in law I love and adore. And I miss him. I haven't seen him since June. And is it healthy for him to be there? I don't know. Right? Is it something that he should participate in? I think yes. And then there's protecting him, keeping him healthy and safe. Keeping him in an environment that makes great sense.
So I say whatever your personal decision is on your holiday, and how you guys celebrate it together is for you guys to decide. But I know my home, my home, whether or not everyone is physically in it or not, I am going to take that day and sit in thankfulness and gratitude. And I'm going to make sure that I prayerfully walk into the holiday every day for the next 90 days or so. Right?
Because life is just gonna be different. Our traditions that we've done just might be very, very different. And you'll go like, well, "how did that happen? Why did it happen?" Well, it happened, right? Life is different. It is different every single day we get up. And every day that we get up, we have the opportunity to either embrace it or say, "Oh, I don't like it." And whatever that choice might be, right? It is what your day will roll out to be. So I encourage you right now, as you go into this Thanksgiving holiday, and you go into a Christmas and a Hanukkah holiday or whatever holidays you're celebrating, and you go into 2021, I encourage you to walk into it with gratitude, and thankfulness. Every day, we're challenged, we're promised. We're encouraged to sit in that position, sit in that place, and feel that feeling. And sometimes life just doesn't bring that and you go, "what the heck, how did this happen? How did I end up here? Why does my heart feel heavy? Why is it not turning out the way it is?" Right?
All the holiday traditions and the stresses that come with it and yet the joy that follows that, right? All of that stuff can be very impactful on how you do life every day for the next 60 to 90 days. Right? It can be very impactful. And so you need to take the time. I will take the time to sit back and just go, "Thank you. Thank you, though I don't understand. Thank you for the opportunity to embrace it, to feel it, to be it, to do it, and to move it forward to something better." Right, you're empowered and encouraged to share life circumstances with other people and not do life alone. And yet we have to do it in such a healthy, safe manner. Right now, we have to be careful, right? We have to be aware of the circumstances and the people who surround us. And we need to do it in such a way that it supports others. Not just us, that it supports others. So how do you do that? You offer words of encouragement. You take time to hear people, you take time to be with people, you take time to feel what they're feeling. And to be with the emotion that probably you don't even want to sit in. Right? I know, every day I get up, and I keep myself so busy, that I don't allow myself to feel an emotion of quiet reflection, peace. Right? Because I just keep myself busy, because that's the way I love to do life. And this last nine months, it's been out, like, I've had more quiet days than I expected. And I've actually really enjoyed them. Missed a few of them when I got really busy and had to, like, be gone. When I was like, "Wow, I missed that I didn't get to do that quiet thing." Right?
And so that's what I think the rest of 2020 is about. It's about us taking the time to be really close and intimate with the ones that are truly part of our lives, in our everyday fashion. And it's about taking the time to reach out to the others, that should be part of your everyday life. And maybe you've just been so busy with everything that you didn't have the opportunity to do so. Right. It's, it's about putting others first. Because once you start putting others first, you yourself will be blessed abundantly by that. We can become so self-focused about what we're doing and where we're going and the way life is leading us. Right? Whether you're winning or you're losing, or you're just walking through life experiencing it, right? Maybe you don't look at life as winning or losing. I always look at life every day I get up and go, "I'm winning, even when I'm losing. Because you learn in those moments, you learn." And you go, "Okay, I'm so thankful that that turned out the way it did, even though none of it made sense." Right? I can take the time to reflect and go, "Wow. Okay, I could have done that differently. I could have done that in a stronger manner." And then, like, I did it, and I reflected on it. And I learned that there's this, these are the things that I could move forward in it next time. Right? And so those are the moments that you go, yep, "I'm winning, because of the opportunity to reflect and the opportunity to step back and go, huh, that didn't work out. Okay." Right? And that means that you're winning, and you're surrounding yourself, with people and life that allows for you to move forward to something different, something potentially better as what we hope and pray for, right? You surround yourself with people who are just like, "Okay, let's, let's move this forward." They've got the experience, they've got the, the wisdom and the guidance.
What I love so much, is when we just say, "You know what, let's just do this. Let's just move beyond belief, and step right into faith." And that, I think is what the rest of 2020 is supposed to be really about is that you just step into faith. You just trust that something beautiful is right before you in this moment. And it is meant to be yours. It is meant to be felt. It is meant to be experienced. And you let it just wash over you, move you forward into a place of peace. You see all over social media at this time and everywhere else all these, "Oh, I'm done with 2020." 2020 was given to you for a reason. You are right where you're supposed to be in this moment for a reason. So embrace it with a thankful, grateful heart. Doesn't mean you understand it. But you can feel it. And you can be present to it. And you can support those that need to be supported. Because that's what 2020 is about it supporting each other. We stepped into 2020. And we said, "our thing this year, our words, this year, our wisdom this year, is we are better together." And I still believe that, and I'm still holding on to that. Even if you're not physically near me, we are better together. We are faithful. Together, we do life together. We may be far apart or not. We may do Thanksgiving differently this year or not. But we are still together.
And I am so thankful for that. Everyone that moves through because we've had so many losses this year, right, we've had so many things that have created anxiety and stress and have stripped us apart. If we allow it. We can choose to say no to that. We can choose to say, "Okay, yes, we had a loss, someone potentially could have passed away due to COVID." Right? We've had lots of that this year. And we've had other people have losses, due to various other reasons. And I'm so thankful and grateful that I personally have not had that experience. But I pray every day for the families that have and that they hold on to faith. The faith that this person this loss is potentially in a much better, better world than ours, right? And I'm a woman of faith. So that's all I can hold on to. It's truly all. And I encourage you today, to find that in you find the faith that's so deep-rooted in you that you know, that even if they're not with you, they are somewhere so much better.
And I can only say when they're only separated from us because maybe they are not strong enough physically to be with us, they're still there. They're still there. Even though my awesome 87-year-old father in law that I call grandpa might not be physically with me on the holiday. Oh, his spirit is there. Yes. Families are so beautiful. And when we come together, no matter how we come together physically or not. Our families are built on our faith. They're made to be together. And I'm so thankful and grateful for the strength that the family that I have built, the foundation in the family I have built and how I continue to strive to keep that strong, to keep us connected. So do that this holiday. Keep your family connected, strong. Don't let anything pull that apart. Because that is what we're made for. That is what we're built for. A family that just all loves, beyond words, loves beyond measures, loves beyond COVID, loves beyond the elections, loves behind anything out there. Don't let anything separate your family. Nothing.
And believe me, I have some family that could probably drive me crazy. And does and I still love them beyond measure. And how do I do that? That's the mighty God he pulls us. He pulls that out of me and he just keeps bringing me back and He keeps saying you know what? "They're yours, love them, love them, hold them, treasure them. Ignore all the other stuff."
I just encourage you, as a family, this year, this holiday, through the rest of 2020. Just stay together, you're so much better together. Move beyond belief and step into faith. It's who we are, and have fun, smile and rest and play, and eat and create memories and give thanks, abundance, thanks and grace. Because that is truly what Thanksgiving is about. And it's not just Thursday of November, it's every day. It's the rest of 2020. It's 2021. It's just everything you are made to be. Just get up every day for the rest of the year and the rest of your life. And be thankful and grateful for whatever is given to you. Because you are strong enough to do it. And you don't have to do it alone.
You got an amazing, amazing, God who's carrying you through it. And no, we don't ever think about it. No, we don't ever understand it. And no, we don't ever get what he's doing. But he's doing it. And that's all that matters. And He calls us to have full faith in Him. And I live there. I live in that. I have to remember sometimes to come back to that. Because life gets really busy. And I forget. So we encourage you to come to that place. Just take a little bit of time to remember that. Reflect on your blessings. Don't focus on what is not, but reflect on your blessings. Because there are many. There are so many. I am abundantly thankful for each and every one of you who are listening. You're moving along with us, following us. You're just part of our life, you're part of my family. And I'm thankful for you. And I just want to make sure that I share that with you this 2020 because it's been a challenging year. It has, and it's been exciting. And I've been blessed with all the people I've been surrounded with. So I just encourage you just sit back and look at that. Take time to reflect. You'll be so thankful you did. And just step right into faith. Forget about belief. Just step into faith. It is worth it.
We're so thankful. Okay, I'm gonna finish this off with by the way. If you haven't heard, I think actually, as you download this, like we're days away from giving away cool Thanksgiving pies to you guys every year. So I hope that you can stop in and do a drive-by. RSVP for it. I know we've got it all on our website. And we can't wait to celebrate you all for Christmas too. And any holiday that you're celebrating in December. I'm thankful. I'm grateful. I'm Lori Alvarez. And I just want to say that I am faithfully loving on you guys. You're an amazing Real Estate Family. Thank you again.
Lori Alvarez has been in the Real Estate Industry for almost 15 years. If you’d like to contact her call her at 909-227-4196. She loves helping families find their home sweet home.
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