For some Guyanese, better spiritual health and well-being are among their goals for the New Year, when many people promise themselves to be better or better than they could have been in the past year.
Peaches Jarvis, a 21-year-old Parika girl, started in Region Three only when she decided to embark on a weight loss journey and successfully complete college, for the past year.
“I started making decisions last year, actually. I wanted to lose weight and I wanted to complete college successfully. I accomplished both. I lost 15 lbs and passed my graduate college of exams, ”he told Sunday Stabroek.
Jarvis noted that college was his biggest challenge. “I think the biggest challenge I had was dealing with college. I was in the last semester. I had to complete a ton of assignments in a short time and then adapt to online classes. Those things made me feel discouraged and at times I felt like I might not reach the end, ”said the young woman.
She added that constant encouragement from her family and friends helped her pursue her goals. She also noted that the reminder that she had set the goals at the beginning of the year and needed to be completed also helped her stay focused.
Jarvis shared that since completing her goals from last year, she has been motivated to keep trying to fulfill her promises to herself. For 2021, she intends to strengthen her relationship with God. “I think because of the pandemic and all that, I like to touch spiritually so I want to fix that. I want to continue my journey of losing weight and eating healthier and I want to learn a new skill, ”says Jarvis.
Jarvis added that she had more personal promises that she made but focuses specifically on the three mentioned. She said that since January 1st, she has begun to pursue these decisions and can see herself pushing through to achieve them.
Sunday Stabroek also spoke to Roszanna Sookhdeo, a teacher who lives in Parika. Sookhdeo has made decisions many times before but like many people, she does not always see these decisions. She said she hopes to change that this year.
For 2021, Sookhdeo, a firm believer in Christianity, said she promised herself to read her Bible more often, eat healthier and do things she doesn’t often do. In order to fulfill these promises, she said 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. In addition, he noted that the former will not be as challenging. However, she said healthy eating seems challenging but she has prepared a menu that she intends to try her best to follow.
Priya Leildhari, 20, of Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Berbice, said she had many goals all her life but the one that always stood out for her is to wake up every day to be the better person she is the day before. She said that to be the best version of herself and make everyone happy around her is what she intends to pursue completely this year. Her second goal is to challenge herself to achieve more and stay consistent with the effort. She explained that she had hopes of opening businesses this year, these would be added to her current website. Leildhari said she constantly reminds herself that it’s her biggest competition and that she needs to constantly improve herself.
Leildhari has an online bride shop, retailing custom-made dresses and jewelry. She said that while she is not overly skilled with drawing, she hopes to have a dress design line and that would be added to her ambitions for this year. However, she said she has always used shopping as a problem-solving tool and hopes to end that practice this year. He said he will try to pick up some hobbies that will distract him and be used as outlets rather than shopping. This way it will save more and be able to use the savings well. She mentioned that she hopes to do so because she finds that she often buys items she doesn’t need or already has enough.
The mother of three children, Rosell Hercules, 42, of Wauna, Moruca, Region One, said this year she is committing herself to serving God more. The teacher said that last year was off to a good start but then transformed into “devastation”, which led to her losing focus and even stopping her doing whatever she wanted to do. She said she hoped to travel because she had never really explored Guyana but because of the coronavirus pandemic, she couldn’t do it.
While 26-year-old Roberto Abrams of Linden, Region Ten, said his decision for the New Year is to get more family time and provide more for his family. He said that his goal is to remain comfortable.