As the world gets ready to cross over into a New Year, many people are reflecting on the past year and wondering what the future holds.

After 2 years of pandemic living, most of us have realized that even with all of our technology and comforts, that life is still unpredictable. Many of us have also understood that our way of life has been permanently altered.  What was once inconceivable (shutting down economies, school closures, and paying people not to work) is now an option for when the next emergency hits.

Weight Loss Resolutions, Diet Scams, and other New Year, New Me messaging is ringing hollow these days because we’ve been transformed by these past two years at a deeper level.  Superficial changes would be a band-aid to the mental, emotional, and societal turmoil we’re facing.

This New Year let’s prioritize what matters most:

  • Health: Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual
  • Relationships and Connection

Health

It’s no secret that the pandemic has wreaked havoc on Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Young people are having such a tough time that the United States Surgeon General offered an advisory to urge for a response to the mental health crisis.

Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread. Even before the pandemic, an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide — and rates have increased over the past decade.” 

“The COVID-19 pandemic further altered their experiences at home, school, and in the community, and the effect on their mental health has been devastating. The future wellbeing of our country depends on how we support and invest in the next generation. Especially in this moment, as we work to protect the health of Americans in the face of a new variant, we also need to focus on how we can emerge stronger on the other side. This advisory shows us how we can all work together to step up for our children during this dual crisis.”  – Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. (Source HHS.gov)

We need to pay critical attention to our overall health and well-being in the coming year.  Practical steps for health improvement are:

  • Eating Fresh Foods
  • 150 minutes of Physical activity per week
  • Going outdoors for at least 30 mins-1hr of sunlight per day
  • Taking Recommended Vitamins and Supplements (per your doctor)
  • Limit News and Social Media Consumption
  • Seek out Mental Health Professionals for needed treatment
  • Build Community and don’t live in isolation

Relationships

Judging by the deteriorating mental and emotional health of Americans in the past two years, it’s time for us to reprioritize connection through relationships.

“The other pandemic is the mental health pandemic. All the people who are in isolation, all the people who are in despair, anxious, depressed, and who might be overmedicating,” said Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State. (Source News 10)

Being away from healthy relationships takes a toll on our mental, emotional, and spiritual health.  Human beings were meant for connection and not to be isolated.  The more we are away from actual human beings, the more we look to our devices for connection.  It’s not just the phones and tablets that are a problem.  For many older adults, the Television with non-stop doom and gloom reports is just as much of an addiction as social media for younger people.

At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, many leaned into Zoom gatherings, watched Netflix and other programming, or took up hobbies like baking.  Two years in, those activities have worn thin and we’ve realized how much we need in-person contact.

This year I encourage you to focus on connection. Practical Steps for building relationships

  • Contact someone you haven’t connected with for at least 6 months
  • Call someone on the telephone for a chat
  • Write letters to old friends
  • Join a new group with shared hobbies
  • Encourage and uplift at least one person every day
  • Volunteer for a cause you care about

Be Realistic and Do the best you can

I wish I could be the Pollyanna person that tells you that 2022 is going to be a great big turnaround. but I don’t believe that’s going to be the case.  I think we’ll all need to be realistic and continue to process this monumental shift that’s occurred.

Take it one day at a time and Do the best you can.

Happy New Year!