New Year’s Resolutions

Here’s why they have changed this year

PRATIKA YASHASWI

The pandemic has changed us. We’ve surfaced from about two years of facing our mortality everyday, reeling from the chaos and misery around us and experiencing immense grief as we lost relatives and friends to COVID. We’ve been sick, stressed in every aspect of our lives, and really, really tired.

Never has peace and our lives appeared so fleeting and never has the world needed us more.

So at SEEMA, we’ve decided to change the way we look at things. As we march eagerly towards the promises of the new year, let’s take a breather and recalibrate our priorities.

We’ve listed some of the resolutions we’re keeping this year to reflect our learning from the past few years. They fall into 3 categories: sustainability and social good, health and relationships.

1. SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL GOOD

This era truly feels apocalyptic. Ranging from forestswallowing wildfires to floods to unbelievable locust infestations, the years of the pandemic did not spare the earth. As the climate emergency’s situation intensifies, the urgency of individual action increases. 2022 is the year where we need to get out and take responsibility for our world. Here are some suggestions from the SEEMA team. Resolve to: 1. Switch to menstrual cups, cloth pads or period panties for good. 2. Reuse, reduce and recycle. 3. Eliminate single use plastic. 4. Declutter your home and adopt a minimalist approach while shopping. 5. Pick a cause you care about and volunteer regularly for it. 6. Adopt a pet. It’s high time we ditched breeders and gave happy homes to pets who need it.

2. RELATIONSHIPS

We spent the whole year cooped up with our families (or roommates in some cases) and realized the difference between a home and a house. Families argued incessantly, and marriages broke apart. Some of us couldn’t visit our grandparents. Many who lived alone felt even more isolated from their families, friends and secondary circles, not being able to meet or interact with them.

Some of us are returning to offices and others are raring to resign. Still, the majority of corporate employees in many companies that don’t make it mandatory to return continue to work from home.

Good relationships are a pillar of happiness. What’s the nature of your social life? Are your family relationships and friendships those that fill you with positivity and joy? Are there toxic people you need to cut off from?

Here are suggestions for resolutions in the major relationships in your life that you could improve upon. Remember, as relationships are often neglected easily, make sure to treat your resolutions as a part of your to-do list, until staying in touch and spending time becomes wholly natural to you.

• FRIENDSHIPS:

Resolve to stay in touch with old friends. Make time for regular phone calls and even visit them safely if you can. Do brunches. Everything may not be exactly back to safety, but you can make do with the little allowances the pandemic gives us. Friends are the family you choose, so nourish those friendships.

• KIDS:

The kids have been kept away from school at home for months and lost a lot. Time is one thing you’ll never get back especially with a child’s social development. Resolve to spend quality time with your children and improve your communication. When the adults are overloaded with work and chores, communication can often become centered on instructions, parenting or criticism — which isn’t nice, no matter how positive it might be.

• SPOUSE

Resolve to improve your connection with your partner if you have one. COVID-19 heaped a lot of stress on this particular relationship. If you need couples’ counseling, there’s absolutely no shame in pursuing it—don’t wait until things get out of hand. Work on your communication and make time for dates without kids or family around.

• PARENTS

Resolve to spend more time with your parents if they live away from you. If you are caring for elderly parents, it can be easy to let their emotional needs fall by the wayside as we rush around to take care of everyone, ourselves AND focus on our careers. If you find their needs challenging, consider getting a home nurse to help. It can take a lot of stress off of your relationship.

3. HEALTH

There’s no way we’ll be able to be active citizens of the world or maintain good relationships if we’re without our health, physical and mental. Whether one got Covid or not, we were all challenged to maintain a sense of positivity and hope. Many of us are still dealing with the mental health fallout of this pandemic. It’s high time we took every aspect of health seriously. Resolve to prioritize your mental and physical well being this year.

• PHYSICAL

1. Resolve to build your physical fitness. If you don’t have an exercise routine yet, start with small, achievable goals such as a seven-minute tabata workout or 30-minute

HIIT workout. Find a way of exercising that you enjoy. It could be power yoga or even a dance class! 2. Eat well and follow a healthy diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and whole grains. If you’re new to this, you could do worse than go by Michael Pollan’s advice on eating: Eat food, not too much. Mostly plants. 3. Get a minimum of seven hours of sleep every night.

• MENTAL

1. Make time for yourself. Many of us have hobbies that once gave us lots of joy, but neglected in adulthood.

Take an hour or so at least once a week to indulge.

Even otherwise, make sure your schedule is providing you with enough rest and room to breathe. 2. Learn to meditate.

There are many wonderful schools of meditation: Zen, Vipassana, transcendental meditation and more. If you can’t sit still for long hours, try chanting or an adult mandala colouring book. Both have tremendous benefits for your daily life. 3. Seek help if you need it. Move past the self-imposed stigma and find a qualified, licensed professional to help you. Even if you don’t “have a disorder” or are just going through a tough time, a professional therapist can be an asset to your personal development.