New Year, This is Me: Our Therapists Share New Year Mindsets

After a year filled with grief, loss, quarantines, and an ample amount of self-reflection, the imposition of a new year may feel daunting.

As human beings, we tend to place a lot of pressure on the beginning of a new year. A behavior we have learned and perfected throughout our whole lives, simply by participating in new year’s resolutions and taking advantage of those discounted gym membership opportunities.

January, for most of us, is what we know as an opportunity to “start fresh” and leave the previous year behind us. Except, this past year was no ordinary year. It will be impossible for some of us to leave the events that we may have experienced in 2020 in the past, as nothing but a memory, like we have many times before.

Good Riddance 2020

Throughout 2020, some of us experienced loneliness like we have never felt or financial instability that seemed unavoidable. The year 2020 has created a multitude of social anxieties, ranging from the fear of getting sick yourself to deciding to send your children back to in-person school. We have had to miss holidays, birthdays, reschedule weddings and postpone funerals. And although we may have found some fun through this dreadful year- some people got a new pet, some really perfected their yoga skills, and I think we all learned to appreciate nature a little more- some of these events were just traumatizing.

Realistic Expectations

So, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to skip the “new year, new me” and maybe, together, we can take the pressure off the expectations of evolving and exponential growth. Instead, let’s focus on our mental health and allow ourselves to just be- be funny, be sad, be happy, be quiet, be loud, or even just be tired. If we can set our intentions for this year to simply be, growth will follow.

To begin the year, whether that means sending the kids back to school, beginning a new semester, or taking on life as a new graduate, it may be helpful to try a few things to navigate 2021 as best we can. We can start by utilizing skills of self-reflection. I may not be easy to self-reflect, as this can be just as daunting as the coming of a new year but take a look at the life you have created for yourself and allow yourself to accept an unchanged you.

Maybe though, while reflecting, you realize there are some things that you feel were not helpful or productive and maybe you are ready for change. We can then discuss some healthy vehicles for change to make those transitions as smooth as possible.

At the end of the day, or the beginning of the year, we all are ultimately faced with a new normal and we are all separately going to have to learn what that means for us.

So, welcome to 2021, or in other words, just another week…