The New Year Blues : Overcoming Resolution Anxiety
It’s a brand new year, and by the power of social media, we have all become audience to each other’s goals, intentions and resolutions. As soon as that countdown hits zero, we ring in the new year, and mark the moment by deciding to commit to improve our life, setting new goals, and make promises that this time around, we’re sticking to it.
For the most part, it is truly encouraging to see that as a collective, we all generally agree that we want to be better. On the whole, we strive for improvement and are empowered and motivated by it. Yet along with this new year optimism, also lives a sort of low-grade anxiety. The type of anxiousness that sneaks up on you and keeps you up at night. As I scroll and read everybody’s seemingly well thought out goals and convictions, the negative thoughts start creeping up:
“Everybody’s goals are so legit. Are my goals good enough?”
“Should I even share my goals? What if I’m not sure what they are yet? What if I end up changing my mind half way through the year? That would make me feel like a failure.
“Screw this…There’s too much pressure in these resolutions… I’m not even gonna deal with this”
The longer screen time I had on January 1st, the more stress came in. Instead of feeling refreshed and energized, I felt tired and the year had just begun. You felt this too right?
Lucky for me, as I was spiraling deep into an anxious ball of self loathing, I happen to stumble upon a page, called @itslennnie at just the perfect time. Lennnie (with 3 n’s) is an animated blob that very softly and kindly says profound and encouraging things to you. The animations, the music, and the voiceover paired with the substance of Lennnie’s message is exactly what the doctor ordered. Before I keep going, I must link the video I watched. HERE IT IS.
In case you can’t watch it right now, this video shares a video clip of writer/author, Elizabeth Gilbert talking about worthiness and helps us put those anxieties and pressures we feel into perspective.
“You are not required to justify your existence on Earth through constant improvement. You are not a Fortune 500 company. You don’t have to show increasing profits. You don’t have to earn your right to be here by putting yourself to higher and higher standards. You just get to be here. You belong here. You are loved on Earth.”
- Elizabeth Gilbert
Hearing this felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. It resonated so much truth. It’s one of those sentiments that seemed so obvious and apparent, but for some reason, it took hearing someone say those words in that particular order and tone to wake me up to it. This helped me be so much more excited about new goals I set for myself and also removed any resentment I may have developed from others who are sharing theirs.
It’s so easy to attach our worth into the goals we set or the achievements we strive for. I think we should continue celebrating those things because they are imporant, however I invite all of us to remind ourselves that being here and just doing what we can is absolutely enough. That is just as important.
Cheers to you and the new year. I’m happy we’re HERE.
