avatarAliza Rosenfelder

Summary

The article "22 Ways to Feel Better in 2022" encourages readers to embrace simple, enjoyable activities for self-improvement rather than pursuing drastic, often unsustainable New Year's resolutions.

Abstract

The author of "22 Ways to Feel Better in 2022" acknowledges the challenges of the past year and suggests that the traditional approach to New Year's resolutions, which often involves drastic self-improvement, is not only difficult to maintain but also unnecessary. Instead, the article proposes a list of 22 accessible and pleasurable activities that can enhance well-being without the pressure of radical transformation. These activities range from indulging in favorite music and books to nurturing personal relationships and financial health. The author emphasizes the importance of enjoying life's simple pleasures and argues against the societal push for constant self-upgrades, quoting Ferris Bueller to remind readers to appreciate the present moment.

Opinions

  • The author believes that the human tendency to make New Year's resolutions is akin to the constant upgrade culture seen with technology, which is not always beneficial or sustainable.
  • There is a critique of the societal pressure to improve oneself dramatically at the start of each year, with the author pointing out that most people abandon their resolutions by February.
  • The article suggests that self-reflection is often more needed than self-improvement, and that those who most need to reflect are usually the ones who avoid it.
  • It is implied that literature focusing on "fixing" individuals could be more productively replaced with scrutiny of those who make people feel inadequate.
  • The author promotes the idea that life should be enjoyed and that one should not miss out on the present by constantly striving to become "better."
  • The piece concludes with a call to resist societal expectations of self-improvement and to recognize that there is intrinsic value in who we already are.

22 Ways to Feel Better in 2022

May you live in uninteresting times

Helena Lopes via Pexels

I may sound like a typical millennial, but I think everyone who survived 2021 deserves a participation award.

We’ve just been through a pandemic, cut off from our loved ones in a way unique to human history, and we’ve survived. Yet the vast majority of new year’s content treats humans like iPhones — something in need of an upgrade every six months.

To be honest, I’ve seen enough Hollywood plastic surgery to know that constant tinkering rarely results in anything better.

There’s a rush to create resolutions in January, but with 45% of us failing to keep our resolutions by February, it seems destructive to want to change ourselves dramatically purely because the earth has completed another loop around the sun.

That being said, I may or may not have come to this realisation after signing up for a Yoga challenge on the 29th December. To paraphrase Socrates know thyself, especially when confronted with the opportunity for new year’s resolutions and online shopping.

Instead of making my mistakes, in the spirit of 2022 here is a list of 22 inexpensive things to do rather than commit yourself halfheartedly to unneeded (and sometimes expensive) self-improvement:

  1. Put on your favourite song and dance to it
  2. Get absorbed in a game you enjoy
  3. Stay in bed without shame
  4. Watch trash tv with popcorn
  5. Read the most enjoyable kind of book — one English teachers would immediately dismiss
  6. Wear your favourite clothes, take pictures, then put your pyjamas back on and snuggle up in bed
  7. Book a trip somewhere, it could be the local park or Laos, and give yourself something to look forward to
  8. Sort out your finances, especially if it scares you
  9. Try and return unwanted Christmas gifts in the 28 day window
  10. Water your plants
  11. Depending on the success of the previous step, maybe buy some new plants
  12. Pet a dog, especially if you’re having a bad day
  13. Stroke a cat — if it lets you interrupt its busy schedule
  14. Draw something
  15. Cook something you’ve wanted to try
  16. If it goes wrong, happily order takeaway
  17. Watch Stanley Tucci’s Negroni video and have a delicious cocktail
  18. Call a friend
  19. If they don’t like calls, send them a text to let them know you’re thinking of them
  20. Complain wholeheartedly about what really annoys you
  21. Hug someone — you never know when you’ll get the opportunity again
  22. Smile — nothing annoys people more

If we only get roughly 4000 weeks on this earth it seems futile to waste them in self-flagellation. In my experience, the people most in need of personal reflection never engage in it, yet talented people are held back by wishing they were someone better. At this moment, there seems to be a lot of literature around “fixing” individuals when time would be better spent interrogating the motives of the people trying to make them feel inadequate.

To conclude, when society is wrong sometimes the best life advice comes from the world’s favourite truant. Ferris Bueller said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” We only get one opportunity, that we know of, to be on earth for an unknown duration. If you absolutely must make a resolution, resolve to stop trying to be better when there was nothing wrong with you in the first place.

Self Improvement
Life Hacking
Resolutions
Creators
Lessons Learned
Recommended from ReadMedium