I remember a time when I was suffocating in my own home… when taking a deep breath became a luxury… when my entire body would hurt for no reason… when I would wake up tired after 9 hours of sleep.
Photo by Des Récits on Unsplash
2021 was a tough year for many, including employees in the pharmaceutical industry in Lebanon. On top of a global pandemic, an economic crisis and unfulfilled basic needs, emerged a new challenge: the inability to supply patients with their medication.
We worked around the clock to solve a problem outside our circle of control. The motto was “keep going, no matter what!”. Indeed, like many of my colleagues, I stayed positive. When one door would close, I would head towards the next one. I looked for opportunities to grow and planned for a future that was uncertain. I called it “learning opportunity”, “resilience”, “crisis management” and many more buzz words and expressions. On the surface, I was doing great! I was succeeding.
What I did not know was that “Keep going” did not mean discounting my emotions or putting them away so I would forget they even existed. “Keep going” meant identifying a challenge from a rational -what is the situation? – but also emotional perspective -how does it make me feel?
Upset about being ignored, those bottled-up emotions manifested in a physical way. All they were seeking was my attention. It was only when my body crashed that I realized I was managing everything extremely well, except myself.
Identify your emotions
So today, looking back at 2021, instead focusing on my achievements, I choose to take time to coin these emotions, respect and embrace them.
In 2021 I felt helpless for being unable to achieve my mission of saving and improving lives, doubtful about every decision I had made so far, afraid of losing my job after losing my financial and health security, outraged by injustice and unethical behavior taking over collaboration and cooperation, worried about an uncertain future.
I also felt hopeful that we would make it eventually, happy for every tiny piece of good news, and grateful for the simple pleasures in life.
Adopt self-care habits
Planning for 2022, I choose to adopt new habits to achieve wellbeing in life and at work. According to Martin Seligman, Psychologist and pioneer of positive psychology, there are 5 core elements to happiness and wellbeing: “PERMA+”
Positive emotion: increasing positive emotions from the past through forgiveness and gratitude, the present through pleasure and mindfulness and the future through hope and optimism. Some of the things I’m doing are pursuing hobbies that teach me to let go like dancing and yoga. I also have my own gratitude jar where I note, daily, 3 things that I am grateful for.
Engagement: identifying your signature strengths and using them to solve your biggest challenges. In a world so focused on enhancing weaknesses, Seligman has taken a different outlook. He believes that any task we do not enjoy can be transformed if we put the best of ourselves into it. We can also increase engagement by participating in activities that we love and are skilled at. Hence this blog 🙂
Relationships: strengthening relationships with loved ones- family, friends, colleagues- building bonds with new people or getting in touch with old connections. Let me ask you, how deep are your relationships? How much do you maintain them? How much do you lean on your entourage to provide support and love? Although a social butterfly, I would score poorly on this. Ever since the pandemic, I became too immersed in my daily activities that I completely disconnected. So, this year, I choose to connect with one new person every week.
Meaning: belonging to and serving something bigger than the self and finding purpose in life. Philanthropic actions and meaningful activities have a longer lasting effect on happiness and wellbeing. That doesn’t just mean community service or joining a political cause but also simple things like helping someone perform a task, engaging in creative activities you can connect with or even spending quality time with a friend in need.
Accomplishment: achieving goals and mastery of skills. How gratifying is it to be recognized for a certain skill? I started listing the positive attributes that people say about me to remind myself of the impact that I have over others. I’m sure if you do the same, the list will be quite considerable!
Plus (+): The Plus in PERMA refers to optimism, physical activity, nutrition and sleep. Now, we will certainly not change all our habits at once. In fact, setting unrealistic goals will only negatively impact our wellbeing. However, going for one habit at a time will surely make it stick! I started with a sleep schedule and I’m sticking to it!
Last week, after a yoga class, I took a deep breath for the first time in months… It was priceless!
How about you? How did 2021 make you feel? What good practices will you adopt in 2022 to achieve wellbeing at work?
2021 was a mix feeling of great achievements despite all the situation mentally exhausting and draining lot of energie to keep up. Supporting my family, staying positive, smiling, enjoying, fulfilling my duty was a mindset decision that needed a highly work life balance and commitment.
By motivating myself and influencing others to keep going forward, widening my scope of connection and meeting positive people just like my running team and the writer of this blog and more and more.
Learning for 2022: I’ll be busy living. connecting more with my siblings, positive people & connections, while focusing on my passion in order to be mentally ready to succeed in my work ambitions.
Thank you Cesar for sharing! How relieving is it to let it out and put it in words right? Good luck on ur journey in 2022. I’m certain it will be special!