It’s been a year of the pandemic: loss, illness, change, uncertainty, loneliness, disruption, financial stress, political upheaval, social and racial reckoning. Whew, what a year. I don’t know about you but I feel exhausted, worried about how what we have experienced will impact all of us moving forward, uncertain about what the future will look like, and also hopeful that we have all learned, grown and are ready for whatever comes next.

January is always a time to reflect on the year that has been and make big wishes and resolutions for the year ahead. This year especially, many of us are eager to say goodbye to 2020 and look forward to “happier, healthier” times. As eager as we all are to move on and look forward, it is also important to take pause, reflect, look inward, and then mindfully and with intention set realistic and authentic hopes and goals.  I believe we are healthiest and happiest when we think, feel and act from a place of within. And truthfully, we can and should do this often and anytime, we really do not need to wait for a new year to reassess our own values and priorities.

Let’s acknowledge we are living through history in the making. Things have changed, seemingly in a flash, for all of us, in similar and in different ways. Daily life has become unfamiliar, unpredictable, frightening and slow-moving. Individual and collective health has simultaneously become the world’s biggest priority and greatest danger. But how do we deal with our own mental health given the enormity of what is happening around us?