The online world is currently filled with ideas for New Year's resolutions-- smoothie recipes, workout regiments and inspirational quotes fill our newsfeeds wherever we look, not to mention all of the memes joking about how easy it is to give up on those promises. While it is true that some people are capable of sticking out their resolutions all year long, I have never been one to even go to the effort of making one.

This year, however, I have decided to give it a try. Even though I most definitely will not be diligently making and sticking to a workout schedule, I think that what I have chosen to do will require a similar kind of determination.

I am going to make some changes to my thinking in the coming months. I'm going to be thankful for what I have and for those who have helped me get where I am. I'm going to take time to appreciate myself as well. Not just by taking physical care of myself, but also by not feeling so guilty when things don't immediately go the way I had originally worked for.

On the first of this year, I turned 20. While I had a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends, I kept getting the overwhelming feeling that I imagine all 20-year-olds feel at some point-- I have no idea why I'm allowed to even BE 20 and I don't want to have to learn how to navigate the world for myself.

Why is time moving so quickly?! There are actual adults (who are probably much better at adulting than I am) who were born in the 2000's!! HOW?!

This fact will never cease to freak me out, however, I want to embrace the fact that time is moving forward. While I believe I am entitled the occasional day wallowing in self-pity over the fact that I am not longer a care-free child, I want to spend most of the days feeling optimistic about the days ahead, even if I sometimes wish time would freeze for a bit.

My final goal is to be positive. This is the most generic of all of them, but I believe it is also the most important. There's no way to know how much you can brighten someone's day just by smiling at them, even if you're fighting to keep brightness in yourself as you do.