5…4…3…2…1 Ring in the New Year!!!
This should feel delightful, right? After all, we’re celebrating and brimming with hope and optimism.
It feels great to make that list of resolutions but secretly we know the truth. After the streamers have streamed and the balloons have popped, most of our well-intentioned resolutions will have faded just a few days in. Of course, they have. We can’t change ingrained habits and ways of thinking with just a few days of willpower. It’s even more difficult for those of us battling the diseases of anxiety and depression.
We stay where we are, finding a level and a routine and protecting it. If change was easy everyone would do it. To follow a new path, we need help and time to change those old patterns and if the choices we’ve been making now aren’t helping us live the way we choose, the very best choice we can make might be to ask for help.
Here are 5 suggestions for resolutions we can actually do, and 5 ways we can ask for help to make them stick.
I can:
Focus on making small positive changes that cultivate positivity and improve overall mental health.
I can ask for:
The support of people who make me happy and begin to cut ties with those who do not.
I can:
Make a list of what I accomplished last year, no matter how small.
I can ask for:
Those around me to gently point out when I slip back into comparing myself to others.
I can:
Interrupt obsessive thinking with a simple activity that engages my mind and body.
I can ask for:
A friend or trusted family member to take a short walk or yoga class with me.
I can:
Start a new tradition that makes me happy. It doesn’t have to be the dreaded party. It could be hanging out with my pets or having a couple of close friends over to watch a feel-good movie.
I can ask for:
Understanding that I’d prefer to be alone. Or I can invite a friend or family member over and pop some popcorn.
I can:
Accept that New Year is a difficult time for me and can make an important connection with a mental health professional.
I can ask for:
Help finding a therapist I trust or, if I have one, I can schedule more sessions or engage with treatment again if I stopped.
New Year’s depression can be very real, but that does not mean it’s inevitable or that making resolutions is for others but never for you.
