2021 Goals and Aspirations (Refocusing On My Mental Health)

The year 2020 was something else! It felt like every catastrophic event from one decade played out in the course of a year. The year changed your lives in so many ways, including how we view the world around us and our time spent. A lot of reflection was made and now it’s time to take what we’ve learned and change for the better.

Personally, my husband and I fared quite well. We kept our jobs. I worked from home. We stayed healthy. There was a lot to be thankful for, but at the same time we were challenged mentally. Cody finally started getting help for his depression and anxiety and I began to realize my own struggles with mental health.

I have always struggled with bouts of depression and anxiety and in recent years could tell it was worsening, but 2020 seemed to just tip it right over the edge. At the beginning of the pandemic, when things first began shutting down, the introvert in me was ecstatic. I was happy to stay home and avoid social gatherings. The thought brought so much joy and possibility.

Were you one of the many prior to Covid who thought “if only I could work from home I would workout, start that project, get so much done”?

Well I certainly was. Then came Covid and all I wanted to do was sit and wait and watch to see what would happen. After the first few months past and it seemed we would be home for awhile I did start to do more. I finally started all the projects around the house I had been dreaming up. I had planned to do them that year regardless but now had so much more time. Yet still I found myself feeling down, never satisfied, like I wasn’t doing enough with this new found time. This feeling, however, was misguided. I have lots of time, just bad time management.

Time management has never been my strong suit. This year made me realize I’ve been too focused on the should of, could of, would ofs and have been losing track of the present. Everyday needs to be taken as a fresh start because it is. Instead of focusing on what could have been yesterday I need to start focusing on what could be today.

This is just one of the many realizations I had from the year. Although I say realization, it’s something I have known for quite awhile. I’m just now realizing how important it really is to stay present and focused.

Of course I still have the typical goals for the year; drink more water, get better sleep, eat well, exercise… Health was actually something I kind of put on the backburner this last year. I know that sounds crazy when we were going through a pandemic, but I mean more in the sense of my weight. That’s something I have always struggled with and at the beginning of last year I was just over it. I wanted to focus on the things and activities that made me happy rather than my own physical appearance. But I think I went a little too far in the opposite direction. I realize now that I need to refocus on health and not just the physical but the mental as well.

In order to stay more focused and in a good head space I decided I need to start doing things like mediating, reading more and watching less TV. I want to create a good morning routine and good habits to keep me going with the things that make me happy without feeling burnt out or depressed and anxious.

That is definitely the forefront of my goals this year as mental health may be the most important. Then once my head is more clear I can then focus on my physical health and the other aspirations I have for the year.

I still want to do things around the house like making our basement more functional and creating a nice outdoor space now that we have our fence up in the backyard. And of course I’ll be sharing my many projects both macramé and home décor DIYs.

What are your goals for this year? Have they changed from the year before? Is mental health a focus? Let me know in the comments below.