It's about that time of year again. Everyone is telling themselves BIG promises and your local Planet Fitness attendance is at an all-time high. I never really got into New Year's resolutions, because I get distracted extremely easily.

But after a few years of having a negative outlook on life, the last few months of 2018 were exactly the plot twist I was hoping for. I started to see a change in my life and I realized that it was mostly due to surrounding myself with kinder and more positive people. I decided not to wallow in pity, because shitty things are going to happen whether I want them to or not. I need to just try to enjoy myself and my life and not care about what others think.

I just simply want to be kinder. That's it. That's my resolution: to be kind. Not just for the new year, but for life. To myself, to others, to the earth, to animals… to everything and everyone. I want to fall in love with myself again. I want to fall in love with the world again. I want to fall in love with being alive again.

When I first thought of this and decided it would be my New Year's resolution, I felt rather silly compared to everyone around me. All around me, especially on social media, I see people posting about how they want to run a triathlon, or travel all around the world, or lose 50 pounds. I felt like my resolution was inconsequential in comparison.

But it isn't, at all. It doesn't matter if you want to lose 50 pounds this year or just read one really good book or learn to swim or be kinder to yourself. Your resolution is all about wanting to better yourself and following through with that goal. And when it comes down to it, trying is the most important aspect of New Year's resolutions. Whether you meet your goal or not doesn't matter, what matters is that you tried.

Human growth does not solely come from accomplishments, but from what you learn through perseverance. I learned recently that it's okay to fail. It's okay to not know what you want. It's okay to be confused about life. Find your joy in the journey.

We as a society put such unrealistic expectations on ourselves and rarely sit back to look at what magnificence our existence truly is. I know some people think I'm naive, but I truly think that the world could be a better place if we educated one another, respected other's existence, and were kinder to one another.

So whatever you want to do, or not do with your year, respect what others want to do. Be kinder to yourself, others, and I hope that 2019 is exactly what you need it to be.

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