“Our First Pandemic” – the words that garnished the annual ornament I gave my husband for his stocking this year. It’s not to make light of the situation at hand, but instead, a deep remembrance. The year 2020 seems to be the year that most individuals “threw in the towel” out of frustration, out of group think, out of unfortunate circumstances, etc. Most people have attempted to “cancel” 2020 using that cancel culture mentality that seems to be so rampant.
2020 has Taught Me…
Honestly, for me (and I know many of you are going to hate me for saying this), I have truly felt drawn into a deeper sense of being throughout the year 2020. This year has taught me much about slowing down, trusting myself, taking care of my health (from a proactive standpoint), and how to let my yes be my yes and my no be my no.
Even though many of our standard compensations (the things we normally use throughout the year as means of counterbalancing the negative) did not happen the way we wanted this year, I truly do believe that we are being called into a deeper sense of knowing ourselves. The way the world has sped up makes it difficult for the earth to sustain itself, increased the poverty gaps, and made it extremely difficult to feel like we can ever keep up or get ahead of anything. And if there’s one thing I know, it’s that our reptilian brains (and our anxious need for control brains) certainly don’t like that.
At the expense of calling it all “progress,” we’ve ultimately lost touch with ourselves over the years, and I think it’s time we reclaim this!
Re-Think the Goals You’re Setting
I know the new year is approaching quickly, and I think we’ve all but given up hope on setting some new goals for ourselves in the coming year. Many of us have shrunken away from the idea of goal setting because “what’s the point?” Or “well it’s no use, I can’t go do any of that anyways.” However, I’d like to encourage you (and us) to re-think the way we are goal setting for 2021. Maybe this year, instead of tangibles, we set our goals on the deeper. Maybe this year, we seek to create deeper more sustainable goals that carry with us despite what the world has to offer.
Some goals to think about for 2021:
- Understanding your capacity. Learning to lean into what you need and not just want you want.
- Developing assertiveness to set the boundaries necessary to keep you thriving and functioning well within your capacity instead of always engaging in activities that move you away from this capacity.
- Learn to “let go” of attachments.
- Learn how to “be with” yourself, and truly embrace present-centeredness.
- Be more fluidly active throughout the day (not hitting the gym for an hour every day, but learning how to incorporate movement into every hour of your day naturally).
- Be proactive in your health (get your labs done, go to the physical therapist, reduce the inflammation, etc.).
- Cultivate balance.
- Cultivate curiosity.
- Stop saying “I don’t know” and seek to answer.
- Slow down (at your own choosing, not because of force).
These are just a few goals you might be interested in pursuing in the year 2021. And notice, none of these goals requires you to travel somewhere exotic. None of these goals requires tons of money to make it happen. And none of these goals necessarily requires other people to make it fruitful.
All these goals require is intentionality with your time. Intentionality with your thoughts, and intentionality with your living.
May you go in peace in the year 2021, and cultivate a little faith over fear. Seeking to dive deeper into the essence of you.
Be Well,
Buffy Andrews
LCSW, RYT 200