As the year winds down, we all start taking time to reflect and often, we make resolutions. New Year’s Resolutions have gotten a reputation for being held only through the first few weeks of the year and then dropped. Even I am guilty of this myself, until I started to change the way I look at resolutions. Last year, I unknowingly made my first New Year’s resolution that I actually kept: going to the gym. Now, I know that resolving to go to the gym is probably one of the cheesiest, cliched, overused resolutions of all time, and those of us who regularly use the gym year-round dread the first few weeks in January when the gym is overcrowded with people we know will be gone by next month, but my resolution wasn’t just to go to the gym more, my resolution was to take better care of myself and find happiness. 2014 was a year full of adjustments, pain, struggles, and heartbreak, and I let it get me down. By the end of the year, I was uninterested in school, friends, or most of the things that used to make me happy. I knew I had to make a change, but I was scared. I didn’t even know where to start - the concept of becoming happy seemed too daunting for me to tackle—I wasn’t strong enough. But I told myself there was nowhere else to go but up, so I made my resolution with an open mind: however I had to do it, I would find my happiness this year—and I did! Not just through the gym, but through new clubs and classes. I started applying to everything that seemed fun and would give me opportunities to be out of my comfort zone. So here’s what I have to say as the season for making (and most likely, breaking) New Year’s resolutions comes around.
1. More, more, more!
Whatever you have in your life that you love, do more of it. Have you found a passion for baking, writing, singing? Great. Bake more, write more, sing more. Hell, write a song about how much you love baking and sing it to everyone you know. Life goes by so fast, and although working hard is important, it’s all for nothing if you can’t enjoy yourself along the way.
2. Challenge yourself
Is there something you have wanted to try, but for some reason, never did? There’s no better time than right now. Whether you have been wanting to go skydiving, or want to get more involved in an organization on campus, or just want to try being more social, go do it! I know it’s nerve wracking and much easier said than done, but even if you take baby steps—don’t give up on your goals. The feeling you’ll get when you achieve them is well worth the challenge.
3. Relax
People often feel that New Year’s Resolutions have to be these big wishes that will make their lives so exciting and much better than they were. However, I think they can also be just little wishes to yourself on how to better take care of you. For example, a perfectly good resolution could be to take 30 minutes a day to meditate, play music, turn off your devices, and just check out. You could resolve to nap more, or go for quiet walks in the morning, or, like me, start your day with an hour at the gym not because you don’t like how you look but because you want to make the conscious effort to take better care of yourself and feel better each day. Resolutions don’t have to be big gestures, although they can be. Resolutions can just be little baby steps towards a better you, and that’s okay.
4. Change your attitude
And I don’t just mean stop being a brat. I mean, if you always find the glass half empty, try harder to see positives in your day. Didn’t do so well on your exam? Don’t let that ruin your whole day. Instead, while still validating that you’re upset about the grade, try to think about your awesome friends, or the nice weather, or the fact that you go to an incredible school. Being unhappy about everything is exhausting, so when you can find little things to be happy about, hold on to them.
5. Be Selfish!
Although people like to make resolutions to be nicer to others, to help others, and to volunteer more, it is perfectly OK to make your resolution this year all about you. Resolve to find your happiness, to do things that make you feel good, to give yourself more time to rest, travel, study, socialize...whatever you want. Let this year be the time to treat yo' self more. Besides, you can't truly help others until you first learn to help yourself.
So these are just a few tips to help you make a better resolution this New Year. I hope they help! As for my New Year's Resolution? I'm all about finding more treat yo' self-moments in 2016.
