Evolving and Having Hope for the New Year

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyone’s sense of stability, structure, and sense of control, yet again. This long-drawn-out time of uncertainty, combined with the social distancing that keeps us away from family, friends, and normal activities, has taken a significant toll on us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically. However, there is hope for the New Year, and this blog can help you nurture it. 

Hope is always important in our lives, but now it is more critical than ever. Hope can help you fight off depression and anxiety. Hope can motivate you to achieve your goals. Hope can help you be more resilient when we face challenging times. Hope can help you focus on the reality that you need to keep yourself safe by taking the health precautions recommended by the CDC and state and local governments.

Below are some helpful steps to take to reflect on 2021 and have hope in 2022:

1st Step - Self-Reflect and Review Our Experiences From 2021:

• Pause and Acknowledge – Speak in truth and acknowledge what our experience was like this past year.  Recognize that there have been challenges, difficulties, sadness, and many things that we had no control over. It’s ok. To reflect on these things, and we also need to choose to move forward, as well.

• Identify the Gifts and Positive Experiences – Acknowledge that there also were some things that we experienced that may have been positive, lessons learned, opportunities given, and personal growth. So it’s important to take some ownership for these things as well instead of focusing only on the negatives.

2nd Step  - Determine What We Want for 2022:

• Be Intentional – Incorporate what we want to focus on for the New Year. We can evolve and develop a new sense of self and be realistic about what we can change, yet not expect to change everything. Be careful about referring to Resolutions and instead be willing to have Evolutions in the New Year.  Select 1-2 things that were lessons that can apply towards wisdom and growth in this New Year.

• Expect and Hope for Good things to come – Love unconditionally, learn self-acceptance, improve self-worth and self-esteem, reduce stress, anxiety and depression, offer grace to yourself, and recognize life offers us choices and we can decide how we want to live it.

3rd Step – Evolving In The New Year Questions (Answer the following questions and share them with someone you really trust):

• Three Lessons I learned in 2021?

• The gifts of 2021 that I am carrying over into 2022?

• My thoughts about evolving instead of resolving?

• A few things I hope to grow through in 2022?

• My hope for 2022?

Make these a part of your goals for the New Year and celebrate that you made it through last year which was not easy. Believe in yourself and know that you are stronger than you may realize and have much to offer and accomplish in the New Year. 

It often takes more courage to have hope than not because you're being asked to look into the unknown and still believe all things are possible. Sometimes it is only hope that feeds our spirits and launches us to find the strength and power to carry on.

If we are hopeful, can bad things still happen in life? Yes, but we must remember good things happen too and sitting around feeling hopeless doesn't help anybody.  Feeling hopeful can help you develop a more open mind, which can help you access more possibilities, making it more likely you will find a resolution to your problems or a new way to live with whatever you face in the New Year.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.”   So, let’s try to be more hopeful in 2022 because hope is the beginning of all that's possible to make the world a better place for everyone. 

Wishing all of you a Happy, Hopeful and Healthy New Year!!!!

~Tosha

I believe we are created for relationship with others and even with ourselves. It is my desire for clients to discover how past and current relationships influence their behavior, thoughts, and feelings in order to bring about long-term change and healing. I greatly enjoy working with children, adolescents, adults, clients with depression, anxiety, trauma, and low self-esteem.

Creating My Best Self in 2022

2022?! How is it already 2022?

It feels like we’ve all been through the ringer since COVID started almost 2 years ago. We’d all like to have a fresh start and not have the heaviness of it all on our shoulders. It seems like a new year would offer that to us. But…. Just like with New Year's Resolutions, a marker like the start of a new year doesn’t offer us anything more than the necessity of buying a new calendar. If anything, it puts  more pressure on us to “make this year the best ever!” I’ve done this more times than I can count and unfortunately, it’s hardly ever worked.

Have you ever made a resolution or new years goals that you followed for a month… or week… and then, just sort of gave up on? You’re not alone.

I’m not here to make you feel defeated already. I’d just like to give us a different perspective on “new year's resolutions”.  

My challenge to you is not to wait for a New Year’s Day or any other arbitrary day to begin making a positive change in your life. 

Changes are more likely to become part of your routine when you are motivated and are consistent. Strike while the iron’s hot and set yourself up for success as  soon as you have made the decision to do so. Even if you have a setback or two, picking yourself up and dusting off will allow you to reset and make any day a new beginning. 

It just so happens to be the first week of January, but don’t let that be the reason for change.

Becoming the best version of yourself is always a reason to strive for positive changes in your life. 

I challenge you to join me as we work on ourselves this year. Find a new healthy hobby, join that after work sports team, Saturday book club, schedule a coffee with friends, or visit family you haven’t seen in a while. Your health is important, make space for healthy habits. And when I say health, I’m talking whole person health: body, mind, emotions. So feed your soul, feed your mind, and feed your body. 

Researchers say it takes around 21 days to create a habit. Think about that for a second- any habitual thing you do in the next three weeks will become a habit. So, in these next 21 days what healthy habits are you creating? Maybe you’re setting a bed-time reminder to get the rest your body needs, maybe you’re adding veggies and whole foods to your diet, or journaling your thoughts and feelings. 

Can we all just agree that we should create a habit of positive self thoughts? Let’s partner together for the next 3 weeks to stop criticizing ourselves, redirect our negative thoughts, and give ourselves some much needed GRACE. You give it freely to others, don’t you deserve to give yourself a bit of grace as well? I’m guilty of it too. But making a conscious effort to think positively about yourself for 21 days will help create that health habit of self-love. 

Now, once we’ve mindfully practiced some healthy habits for 21 days, it should be our goal to keep them going throughout the year. 21 days isn’t a magical number that will keep you healthy all year round. Like anything, healthy habits take work. We must keep them in the forefront of our minds throughout the year and continue to practice the healthy habits we create this January. 

One way to do that is to write them down. Write out your goals, desires, and even baby steps to get there. And please, please celebrate the small victories along the way. Baby steps deserve recognition. 

Below is a template to help you write down your healthy habits. I encourage you to print this out, make it your lock screen on your phone, or put it somewhere you will see it each morning. I like to have mine taped on my bathroom mirror, so I am reminded of my healthy habits and goals each morning when I brush my teeth.  

I encourage you to print this out and fill it in with healthy, attainable goals/habits you’d like to focus on. Remember to think about your whole person (body, mind, soul) and create habits that feed you in all areas of your life. If you can’t think of healthy habits, below is a list that can help you; get creative, and personalize your list to fit your lifestyle. 

Sometimes we need someone to talk to or help us in creating healthy habits, overcoming trauma or past experiences. We’d love to walk alongside you. Feel free to contact us to make an appointment, 951-778-0230. 

You can also do so online here: https://www.centralcounselingservices.net/contact-us

Cheers to 2022, creating healthy habits and not waiting for “tomorrow” when we can work on becoming our best selves today! 

-Eric

I want to be present with others while they take amazingly courageous steps towards self-awareness. I enjoy being a therapist as I can witness others take possession of their lives and create change through action. I am hopeful that I may be able to help unlock the power of healing within each client so that they would relieve themselves of the need to have therapy. I hold myself to a high standard such that client care is my utmost priority. I work towards maintaining professional and ethical values to reduce any conflicts and best support the client.