I made a resolution on January 1, 2016, and I failed terribly to reach it.

I'm honestly okay with that.

I told myself last year that I was going to get back into the shape I was in high school when I was practicing for 3-4 hours a day, three days a week on a football field wielding six foot of pole and 1,728 inches of silk in heat, wind, and sunshine. I told myself I'd get back to that and I would run a 5k, but that didn't happen.

Instead I ran when I felt like it, lifted weights maybe twice, didn't change my diet, and I gained between seven and twelve pounds. I never actually ran a 5k but I walked one with my Mom in November. Honestly, even though some days I hate the fact that I've gained weight or that I was too lazy and unmotivated to do what I wanted, I don't feel like a failure.

This year I'm not making any resolutions. Instead, I'm making a goal list. I'm making a list of things I want to do to better myself and I'm not putting a time limit on them. I still want to run that 5k race and maybe actually "earn" the medal I receive, but I won't push myself so hard that my shin splints come back, again. I want to be more organized, so I will go through my home and see what I use and what I don't. The things I don't, I'll donate to fulfill my want to give back to my community.

Sitting down making my goal list, I recognize that a few things on it, such as getting more organized, letting go of things I don't use but "might need one day", and staying in touch with family are things that I have been saying I need to do for years now. I see this but I also know that it is okay for that to happen. Sometimes life gets in the way, sometimes the motivation isn't there, sometimes we just give up completely once it gets a little difficult. This year I'm telling myself it's okay to let this happen. It's okay if I only accomplish one of my goals for 2017, instead of all of them. There's always next year and there will always be more ways that I can improve myself and the life I live.

What I'm trying to say here is that you don't have to make a resolution every year to feel like you've actually done some good. Everyone always says they're going to eat healthier, workout more, save a bit more money, or whatever else you feel the need to do, then they feel horrible when it doesn't work out the way they wanted it to. Don't make a resolution; set goals and figure out what you have to do to reach them. Instead of trying to climb a mountain by March, take smaller steps, climb the mountain in November but get to the trail in March and over the hill by June or July.

It's only the third page of a 365-page novel, make it a great one.