Why We Don't Need 2021 Resolutions

With the start of the new year, plenty of us are thinking about or attempting to tackle resolutions. Perhaps after the long haul that was 2020, we want to be more engaged or get more activity or change our diets.

After a year of staying home, we may be thinking about how now is the time to finally do all the things we said we would do but had no energy for because we were exhausted or afraid or grieving.

Cut yourself some slack

I think it’s important to cut ourselves some slack, still, even though there is a new year at hand. Time is, in many ways, arbitrary — but on the other hand, marking the cycles of time, the seasons of our lives, our transition from this to that, is something humans have always intrinsically done. We celebrate the passing of time. And that's okay. But it doesn't mean we have to reinvent ourselves or achieve perfection in order to do so.

If anything, we can mark the passing of each day with a simple intention. We are, in many ways, living day to day in pandemic life.

There is still a lot to handle

2020 hasn’t suddenly given away to a clean slate, some magical tabula rasa. We are still in the middle of a global pandemic. We are still fighting for our lives. We are still inside of our homes struggling and hoping that we will be safe — especially those of us on immunosuppressants. We are still worried about our at-risk loved ones.

Actually tackling our resolutions means having the freedom and the luxury to do so. It’s hard to have that freedom and luxury when we are simply surviving, trying to stay safe, grieving collective end individual losses, fighting to keep our jobs or homes, or keeping our families safe.

If you feel shameful about holiday snacking or not getting enough movement or sunlight, extend compassion and generosity to yourself. I have tried to accept that I have somehow been through one of the hardest times in modern human history, witnessing it alongside endless political drama and governmental neglect, and the fight for social and racial justice. All while watching fellow humans die in other countries from explosions and terrorist attacks and illness.

So if you do make a reservation, feel free to keep them small and realistic. Focus on one or two things that you can do each day to bring your self joy and nourishment. And don’t blame yourself if you don’t achieve perfection. You’re achieving survival, and that’s incredible.

Some of the more realistic things I'd like to focus on in 2021 include:

• Getting a bit of sunlight every day
• Reading when I have downtime rather than using social media
• Stretching more several times per day
• Keeping a symptoms/disease diary

I don't consider these resolutions; they're just ideas that I have — but they aren't priorities, I won't shame myself if I don't live up to them, and they aren't at odds with the life we are living right now.

What good things have you been doing for yourself? Have you been giving yourself a pass?