INTENTIONS for 2022
It’s that time again where we feel pressured to make New Year resolutions. We look back at the past year and take inventory of our accomplishments or lack of them. We tend to look at our flaws instead of how well we did considering challenges that were presented in front of us. We set out on the new year by setting goals that often are daunting and can have a deeper mental impact than one can imagine.
The past two years I have taken a different approach to how I enter the new year. Instead of resolutions I look at intentions and reflect what I managed to learn about myself during the last 2 years of a world upside down by all the factors of living with a pandemic. We often criticize ourselves for what we didn’t accomplish but just being present these past two years has been a feat in itself and to be acknowledged. Often I don’t think we give ourselves the accolades we deserve. In 2021 we began the new year isolated and with the unknown of the pandemic and our futures. If one looks back at the last 20 months and that we are still standing is an immense accomplishment. We have seen and known loved ones that have died, businesses that closed, (some that thrived), lost connection with family and friends, work alone from our homes without peer connection, the vaccine debates, fears of gatherings or travel, and finally some excitement of regaining some normalcy to only be faced with Omicron. No matter if it affected you personally a lot or not at all, it has affected our mental state. We can avoid the news but in a world of social media it’s impossible to be sheltered from the immense challenges of this unprecedented period in our lives. Think and write down five positive things you learned about yourself and others in the last year. It may be, “I got up in the morning”, “I spent quality with me”, “I learned to cook”, etc., and for many that was success.
Resolutions can conjure feelings of good or bad and success and failure, whereas intentions offer us a place of compassion, growth, quiet time and grace. This way we align our core values with our intentions and place less significance on outcome and more room to enjoy the process. Instead of saying “I want to be happier”, do one thing that makes you happy and slowly build on it, write that down on your gratitude list.
Focus this new year as a time of self-healing, self- forgiveness, self-awareness, mindfulness, and take inventory of the resilience you have or can develop for better mental health.
