The end of the calendar year has no shortage of special occasions, from October's Halloween, to November's Thanksgiving, to the December Holidays. All of these days lead up to one final hurrah for both the holiday season and the year, New Years Eve/Day. While New Years is seen as a time of celebration, gathering, and reminiscing, many people often see it as a time of regret.

Many often feel sad during this time, whether they had goals for the year that they didn't achieve or just had a bad year all around. Often times, they set "New Years resolutions" for the upcoming year, making an (often broken) promise to themselves that they'll change in some way and become a new person.

Unfortunately, based on my experiences, I don't find it very healthy to do this. We all have regrets in life, and we all want to better ourselves year in and year out, but we shouldn't devote a happy time of celebration to be full of regret and uncertain promises.

This is obviously easier said than done. For instance, someone going through a breakup might feel sad and remorseful if they see tons of couples kissing at midnight or on social media, but even those brief moments shouldn't define how you feel on New Years.

I used to be one of those REALLY mopey people on New Years. As someone who struggled with general anxiety, introversion, and all the typical problems the average teenager goes through, I was always bummed out on New Years regardless of what I was doing.

When I reached my high school years and actually started being a more social person, this New Years blues slowly but surely went away each year. In fact, I vividly remember how happy I was on New Years Eve 2013, where I made the bold, out-loud prediction that 2014 would be the best year of my life.

Spoiler alert: Aside from a few cool life milestones, 2014 was a horrendous year for me. The events of that year reached a culminating climax in December, as I closed out 2014 by going through a vicious breakup which put me in a funk for weeks. I planned on spending New Years alone, until a friend got in touch.

He asked to hang out for New Years, and told me he was a little concerned about my well being. The breakup actually sent shockwaves within my home friend group (in their eyes, my ex and I were inseparable) enough to want to be there for me.

The two of us just sat together by the TV and talked about why and how things went south for me. We rang in 2015 and kind of weirded out that this was the year we'd enter our 20s. We did make some resolutions, to work harder, to be nicer, and to experience more things. The one difference about this, we made sure to make these resolutions for life, not just 2015.

Sure enough, on December 31st, 2015, this exact same friend and I were counting down the seconds to midnight...in the observation deck of an Amtrak train traveling through the Bay Area to Sacramento. We didn't make any resolutions, because we didn't need to.

My friend and I were now in control of our own destiny, and came to an understanding that we should be trying our best on a daily basis to better ourselves, and not simply set resolutions out of regret on a day that just represents the transition from one calendar to the next.

The great George Carlin always said that time was something humans made up. Even on holidays of reflection like New Years, this is something important to remember. I know that I'm not going to have some great awakening simply because 2017 is ending and 2018 is beginning.

I know that I'll be the same person on January 1st as I'll be on December 31st. I still have my resolutions for life that I made three years ago, but my self improvement is something I work on every day.

We have our whole lives to better ourselves, so don't set all these goals on one day. When a time like New Years comes for celebration, enjoy it! It really is just another day, and a day is as good as any other. Your goals and dreams are not defined by what you say at the end of a constructed calendar year. The path to a better you is strictly organic.

With that said, I wish everyone a happy New Year, and wish everyone happiness not just for 2018, but beyond. Always chase your goals, and try not to look back on the past, no matter what the calandar says.