If we want 2022 to be different we need to leave our resentments, anger, and baggage behind. It’s arbitrary to think about resolutions and making changes at the end of December instead of at the end of some other month, but it’s what we do. We have a calendar and we mark the years so this is it. It’s a new year and we can use this arbitrary marker in time to reassess, regroup, and change directions. We can take with us from 2021 what we’ve learned and leave the bad vibes behind.
Some of this we accomplish through acceptance. I’ve had complaints about the company I work for and they’ve only multiplied over the past year. I’ve thought about these complaints and I believe they are valid. But if I keep complaining and singing the same song what can I expect to happen? Nothing helpful. All I’ll be doing is recycling and reinforcing my own negative feelings. It’s like going outside into the rain, raising our face up to the sky and screaming for the rain to stop. It won’t stop raining, you’ll still be angry and you’ll be all wet. There may be some value in venting and getting our complaints and negative feelings out but there’s a sweet spot between venting and getting stuck in that loop of complaining.
You might be frustrated or angry with how Covid continues to be handled by individuals and by government agencies. Frustrations about access to testing or how schools are handling or not handling it, but the inconsistent, sometimes illogical, way this has been handled is an old story. It’s how people and governments seem to handle everything. Leave that resentment behind.
Deal with the issue without the resentment. I can look for a new job. You can petition your government representatives to do things differently. But if we keep complaining about the same old things we are stuck. We are choosing bitterness and negativity and accomplishing nothing other than making ourselves more and more unhappy and stressed.
Let’s not take it so personally. We feel like this is all about us because we’re behind the driver’s wheel of our own journeys but it’s not about us. We just have to navigate it. When we can step back and see the things that are happening for what they are, without taking it personally, it’s easier to navigate.
We can then see all the fear and confusion, not just our own. We can see our own angry response. We might even be able to find some compassion as we see that everyone is stuck in this mess and everyone is dealing with their own fear and confusion. Turning the page on the calendar has not changed the challenges we are facing but it does provide the opportunity for us to change how we approach these challenges.