For some Guyanese, better health and spiritual wellness are among their aims for the New Year, when many people make promises to themselves to be better or do better than they might have in the past year.
Peaches Jarvis, a 21-year-old from Parika, in Region Three, only began making resolutions for the past year, when she decided to start a weight loss journey and to successfully complete college, both of which she was able to accomplish.
“I started making resolutions last year, actually. I wanted to lose weight and wanted to successfully complete college. I did accomplish both. I lost 15 pounds and I passed my exams graduated college,” she told Sunday Stabroek.
Jarvis noted that her biggest challenge was college. “I think the biggest challenge I had was dealing college. I was in the final semester. There were tons of assignments I had to complete in a short period of time and then adjusting to online classes. Those things really made me feel unmotivated and at times I felt like I might not make it through to the end,” the young woman said.
She added that constant encouragement from her family and friends helped her to pursue her goals. She also noted that the reminder that she had set the goals at the beginning of the year and needed to complete them also helped her with staying focused.
Jarvis shared that since completing her goals from last year, she is motivated to continue trying to fulfil her promises to herself. For 2021, she intends to strengthen her relationship with God. “I think due to the pandemic and all, I kind of lost touch spiritually so I want to fix that. I want to continue my weight loss journey and eat healthier and I want to learn a new skill,” Jarvis said.
Jarvis added that she has more personal promises that she made but she is particularly focused on the three mentioned. She said that since January 1st, she started following through with these resolutions and she can see herself pushing through with fulfilling them.
Sunday Stabroek also spoke with Roszanna Sookhdeo, a teacher who resides in Parika. Sookhdeo has made resolutions many times before but like many persons, she doesn’t always see these resolutions through. She said that this year she hopes to change that.
For 2021, Sookhdeo, who is firm in her belief in Christianity, said that she promised herself to read her bible more often, eat healthier and do things that she doesn’t do often. In order to fulfill these promises, she said that she has teamed up with a partner and together they will motivate each other to keep going throughout the year. She decided to make these changes because she saw the need to put God first, she said. Additionally, she related that the first will not be as much of a challenge. However, she said that eating healthy seems like a challenge but she has prepared a menu which she intends to try her best to follow.
Priya Leildhari, 20, of Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Berbice, said that all her life she has had many goals but the one that always stood out for her is to wake up every day being a better person that she was the day before. She said that to be the best version of herself and make everyone happy around her are what she fully intends to pursue this year. Her second goal is to challenge herself to achieve more and stay consistent with the effort. She explained that she has hopes of opening businesses this year, these would be added to her current website. Leildhari said that she is constantly reminding herself that she is her biggest competition and that she needs to constantly better herself.
Leildhari owns an online bridal shop, which retails custom made dresses and jewellery. She said that while she is not too skilled with drawing she hopes to get a dress designing line out and that would be added to her aspirations for this year. However, she said that she has always used shopping as a problem solving tool and she hopes to cease that habit this year. She said that she will try to pick up some hobbies that will distract her and be used as outlets rather than shopping. This way she will save more and be able to put the savings into good use. She mentioned that she hopes to do so because she finds that she often buys items she doesn’t need or already has enough of.
A mother of three, Rosell Hercules, 42, of Wauna, Moruca, Region One, said that this year she is committing herself to serving God more. The teacher said that last year started off well but then transformed into “destruction”, this led to her losing focus and even stopped her from doing all she wanted to do. She said that she hoped to travel because she never truly explored Guyana but due to the coronavirus pandemic, she couldn’t do so.
While 26-year-old Roberto Abrams of Linden, Region Ten, said that his resolution for the New Year is to get more family time and to provide more for his family. He said that to continue living comfortably is his goal.
