As the final days of 2016 come to a close, we step on the scale, check our bank accounts, and furiously make the list of everything that we want to do better in 2017. Weight Watchers and Planet Fitness boom with people who want to lose those pesky ten pounds or just want to get toned in the new year. Many try to find the elixir for their nail-biting habits or shopping addictions, and still some people crack open the textbooks and vow to only see A’s on their exams this semester. In 2017, I am challenging myself to change my lifestyle rather than my GPA or my BMI. While we sing “Auld Lang Syne” and cheer to a blank slate, set these New Year’s Resolutions with me for 2017.
1. Be Present.
How many times do we catch ourselves harping on the past or worrying about the future? When the clock strikes midnight, leave 2016 in the past, and pledge to live in the moment. Live gloriously in each of the 525,600 minutes of 2017. Henry David Thoreau said it best: “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”
2. Be people of your word.
Out of the many people that you had to have coffee with in 2016, how many times did you actually sit down over a cup of Joe? How many projects did you commit to only to not have the time or resources? It can be so easy to cancel plans or break promises. Understand that saying no is a better alternative than committing to something you cannot fulfill. In a time when lots of things are variables, let your word be a constant.
3. Pray more.
2016 has definitely portrayed that we live in a world that has an acute need for divine intervention. I promise in 2017 to check in with God more than I check my Instagram. If we follow Him more closely than we follow our friends on Facebook, we can change the world.
4. Speak less.
While we were made to be people in community with others, how many times do we find ourselves talking just for the sake of being heard? We speak so much that our conversations can often be reduced to idle banter or gossip. I vow this year to speak less and think more. An Arabic proverb summarized this resolution in one simple sentence: “Open your mouth only if your words are more beautiful than silence.”
5. Embrace obstacles.
We are people that live to be comfortable. We shy away from challenging professors. We decline uncomfortable phone calls. Why not welcome adversity in the new year? Run passionately towards that Organic Chemistry test. Answer the phone call despite your anxiety. Join the class at the rec that you always see people panting afterward. When the ball drops in 2018, you will be more knowledgeable, more dauntless, more mature, and more equipped to handle the hardships that the next year may bring.
Cheers to a blank canvas! Let's let our lives paint a magnificent portrait in the year 2017.
