Don’t pick up 2022 burdens just yet

The posts circulate on social media. What have you accomplished this year? What are you goals for next year? Are you going to make next year “your year”? After two years of this pandemic, I understand why people want to make 2022 their year. So many dreams put on hold. So many possiblities left unexplored, and all for something that’s totally out of our hands.

I get it. I really do. But I implore you, right now, especially right now, don’t pick up your 2022 burdens too early.

It’s okay to make goals, though it’s also just as important to understand what’s under your control and what isn’t. Too often we think that we’re in control of everything, and I do mean everything. But no matter your industry there are market factors, economic situations, which aren’t in your control. So all you can do is present your best, most authentic self to the world and make sure that you’ve left no box unchecked.

That’s a heavy load to carry, especially when we’re dealing with the trauma and grief of this pandemic. Too many people have lost loved ones and friends. Even if that loss wasn’t pandemic related, it still hurts. We’re carrying this heavy load of grief, all the while we’re trying to heal. It’s so much more difficult to heal when you have people around you who don’t see the world as you do, who choose not to take precautions, or choose not to do their part to help in our collective peace and healing. And no, I’m not just talking about the pandemic, though that has made such divisions stark and realizations hit with the shock of an ice bath on a cold winter’s day. It compounds the traume. It delays the healing.

With all of this in mind, don’t pick up your 2022 load just yet. It’s okay if it sits for a couple more weeks. It’s okay if it sits into the first part of January. It will be there when you’re ready. In the meantime, take some time to heal, to understand what has happened this year and why. Then you’ll be ready.