2021 was better than 2020 because now people had learnt to live life dealing with COVID how ever struggles still were there . One thing I know is that these two year have made us stronger and also made us realize how important family and relationships are. Everyone learnt something important here are some things I learnt this year.

DEALING WITH MENTAL/ PHYSICAL HEALTH:

2020 had me quarantined because I was diagnosed with COVID Symptoms and at that time even until your test results come you have to take proper medication I was quarantined in home and was receiving medicines which literally messed my Hormones and also immunity some how my body felt weak day by day . Later in that year . I was dealing with upper abdomen pain which turned out to be GERD . At first it seemed horrible because as a Pakistani person you know everything you buy is supposed to be oily and spicy . Every recipe had spices without them your food is bland and the situation I was in Everything I ate just came out instantly it was hard at first to learn how to manage things.

It was surely depressing my whole 2020 was a sad year how ever I intended to turn things around.

2021 taught me how I should be taking care of me and my health both physical and mental . I needed to identify the core of my problems which was stress. Since childhood anytime I was stressed I felt my upper abdomen tensed and nauseated.

This made me realize that apparently the root of the whole problem is the way I'm thinking . So i started meditation and yoga in order to relax myself . It didn't cure my worries in a day it took me 5 weeks to notice the pain was fading .

As well as that now the second most concerning thing was how to change my diet. First few days eating bland was okay but then it just made me sad . This time too the root cause was how I was thinking. I needed to think out of the box.

I started by eating raw veggies alot like carrots, cucumbers , salads with nuts , fruits , alot of beans. I started writing down which food triggered my pain . I avoided those or use small quantities .

2021 March was the time I controlled my eating habits I was avoiding tea caffeine and stress at all costs . That's when I noticed how I had not gotten sick in months .I continued meditation and a healthy diet and soon enough I could eat little amount of spices too.

SELF-CARE:

Only the care I was giving myself wasn't enough for me to feel better anytime I looked in mirror I saw my full skin and because of GERD I had acidity issues which lead to premature greying of my hair .One of the goals I set in 2021 was to make sure I'm happy .For that I made sure to pamper myself . I bought alot of stuff for my skincare , hair care mostly herbal cruelty free products . With time I noticed how these things made me feel confident and Happy before I only saw flaws now I was seeing myself improving.

Self love isn't selfish it's important to know and love yourself .

Trying new stuff:

Just like my Selfcare routine where I tried new things for me I also tried learning new ways to draw as an self taught Artist I was too dealing with a art block where I only drew people in one pose or from reference never really trying to paint new things . My 2nd goal in 2021 was to make sure I try new mediums to draw with and also learn how to paint backgrounds and doodles.

I tried painting with oil pastels and guache also made sure to try the mediums I was afraid of using like color pencils that medium always made me think it's not gonna look as good as others . It's not my thing so I never really tried until 2021 November when I tried drawing with color pencils and it turned out to be a masterpiece

This was one of the things that 2021 taught me that you can't decide whether it's good or not until you try .

BE HAPPY BUT DON'T SHOW OFF:

Before 2021 I was very social like I would literally put a pictures of me everyday and try to get affirmations from others . Also the more people told me I look pretty I always was more focused on that one person who thought I don't look good . It made me feel less confident. Also anytime I thought i should post about something I bought I never realized alot of people were getting jealous about the things I owned and I found out how some close people started gossiping about it which lead me to be Sad .

So this year I made sure not to flaunt anything I have or own or even my selfies because . It's only gonna affect my peace of mind if anyone says something bad.

Cutting off Toxic traits and people:

As I said previously one of my own toxic trait was I used to flaunt my success alot because I thought people will be happy however some people thought I was mocking them by flaunting my own success which made me realize that I don't need to show case everything that happens in my life so I stopped doing it . How ever the some people still didn't stop being bad to me . It was high time tolerating all that so I eventually thought that when the ties and bond between people starts making one of them sad it's better to let them go and I cut some friends off without a word at first it made me feel selfish but I was better without them.

You may hear that people love you but not all mean it that way.

2021 was full of Struggles but in end I'm happy that my health improved , I evolved better , kept my happiness first , and made sure that I don't hurt anyone neither let anyone hurt me . Many lessons I learnt and many more to be learnt .