The winter months can be hard. Short days, long nights, cold weather, and shoveling metric tons of snow can all be demoralizing—especially when the snow falls again a day or two later. It’s normal to feel a little down when we can’t be outside sunning ourselves like lizards on warm rocks.

As we trudge into our third year of the pandemic, we’re also limping into a brand-new calendar year—and many of us are thinking of making New Year’s resolutions.

Here we are, facing new waves of COVID-19 with a healthcare system already under heavy strain. And it has to be acknowledged… people are tired. Tired of restrictions, tired of division, and more than anything else tired of the looming threat of a virus we’ve been living with for nearly two years.

It’s hard, if not impossible, to think of a greater existential threat to our species than climate change. Wildfires, droughts, crop failures, the slow erosion of the ozone layer, and the melting ice at our poles are all evidence of a massive shift in the earth’s climate.

Adolescence is, in general, a challenging time even for the most privileged of youths. Hormones, physical and psychological development, and changing social relationships all contribute to a time of strong emotions, both positive and negative.

When we think of how our species evolved on this planet, Darwin’s famous maxim—“survival of the fittest”—comes to mind. One of the hallmarks of evolution is this idea, that the strong survive while the weak perish.