Dr Mandeep Kaur
The year 2020 has been marked by disruption, reflection, deep solitude, awakening, and change. For so many, it has posed some of the greatest challenges of our lifetime. What we have been through this year – a lot of uncertainty, a lot of pain, a lot of restrictions, a lot of fear, a lot of personal sacrifices and a lot of economic woes. Throughout history, after a global crisis, a new era of thinking begins. As we look to the future, a wealth of potential worlds opens up in front of us. Turning the calendar page to 2021 is a time to remind yourself to take good care of YOU in the New Year.
Encourage self-compassion and empathy: Many people are good at showing compassion to others, especially during the pandemic, but not as good at being compassionate to themselves. Self-compassion gives us space to breathe and take the time to take care of ourselves in a healing and kind way.
Self care: Self-care means doing activities throughout your day, during work and home responsibilities, in order to achieve calm and emotional balance. The simple act of watching our breath throughout the day and noting how we feel can alert us to times and opportunities for taking care of ourselves. Take time to put yourself and your need first. Prioritize sleep and eat consistent well balanced diet. Focus on what went well, no matter how small and be gentle to yourself.
Be positive and live in the present: If you find yourself reliving the past or worrying about the future, try to bring yourself back to the present moment using your senses. Notice five things that you see, four things that you feel, three things that you hear, two things that you smell, and one thing that you taste – and then proceed with your day. In every situation, no matter how negative it is, you can always find a spark of light. Being reminded to be grateful for what you have, being able to slow down, experiencing joy from sharing with the ones you love will help you recover for a bit. Life is what you make of it. If you solely focus on the negative, that’s all you’ll ever see. But if you care to look beyond that, you’ll find the golden nuggets hidden away in the mud.
Recall beautiful Life moments: Spend time thinking about some of your best memories. Whether it’s a vacation, an award you received, or a special time spent with a friend, recalling the happiest times in your life can bring more positivity to your mindset. Letting go of past hurt and anger is key to good psychological well-being. Forgiveness is about releasing these emotions that are holding you back and moving into a greater state of well-being.
The new YOU in a new world: Each one of us as individuals have developed new facets of ourselves never experienced before. This changed us forever – we developed new efficiencies, learnt how to work together remotely, digitisation became the new norm, lines were drawn between physical and digital making it a truly ‘phygital’ world. These are the valuable lessons learnt that we must stick with as we enter 2021.
2020 has been a great leveller and a teacher. It has shown us the bigger picture and made us live beyond the trivial to find purpose and passion. The next year should be one defined by hope. We’ve witnessed – and been part of – great changes in our society. These trends are a blueprint for how we think and what we do next – what we take with us and what we leave behind. We can do better and people deserve better.”
(The author is Assistant Professor Dept of Oral Pathology & Microbiology Indira Gandhi Govt Dental College, Jammu)
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