New year, new me. I've said this time and time again, year after year, however, this year I'm putting a different twist on it. The only thing about me that needs to change is how I treat myself.
This year will be the year that I start being kinder to myself and stop hating myself.
I will not make New Year's Resolutions to lose weight or change my body. Around this time of year on the news and on social media all we hear about is the latest quick-fix diet craze, magic pill, or special shake. We hear about how we need to sign up for gym memberships to make up for “indulging” during the holiday season. Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig put thousands of dollars into running new advertisements to encourage and shame people into using their programs. However, I’ve decided I’m done with this bullshit. I will not make conforming to society’s standards a goal like I have in years past. This year, I’m not letting society dictate what determines my happiness.
This year, my New Year's Resolution is to love myself fully and completely.
It is to afford myself the same courtesies I afford others because I deserve them just as much as others. It is to stop trying to achieve perfection because, honestly, perfect doesn’t exist. It is to stop hating everything I’m NOT and to start embracing everything I AM.
I will stop focusing on finding things to hate about myself, and start focusing on finding more things to love about myself.
I will treat myself and eat delicious food without telling myself that I need to work it off tomorrow. I will exercise because I want to and enjoy it, not because I feel obligated to to make my body fit an unrealistic ideal. I will wear makeup because I think it’s fun and enhances my beauty, not because I feel like I need to cover up my flaws.
I think New Year’s resolutions are great and can be a useful tool, if they are used properly.
We should make resolutions that are positive and empowering, not negative and destructive.
Striving for goals that are rooted in love instead of fear will always be a rewarding, fulfilling experience. I’m determined to show myself the love I deserve and give so easily to others.
I am a beautyFULL perfectly flawed work in progress, and I don’t need to change anything about who I am for anyone, not even myself. While I definitely have my flaws, there are also so many wonderful things about me, and I need to learn to praise myself in the same way that I praise those around me.
