With New Years having just come and gone, it seems that the brave and dedicated people among us are at least attempting to still stick to any and all resolutions they may have made. Naturally, that means that now more than any other time of year, you hear many discussions that revolve around the common themes of going to the gym, eating healthy, managing time better and many other self-improvement decisions. However, I for one, will not be included in those conversations. In fact, my New Year's resolution is not to make any resolutions at all.

For the purpose of this article, let's call resolutions, changes. After all, that's what they are, in essence. When you resolve to do-or not do-something, you are deciding to actively change something about yourself, for the better or worse. Generally, or at least hopefully, resolutions are made for the better. As aforementioned, resolutions are often about exercising and health. To be sure, that is good. But again, they are still changes.

I need a break from thinking about changes. I know change is inevitable and furthermore, changing oneself (for the better) can only be viewed positively, but there are also so many times, on a daily basis, that changing oneself can be for the worse. So often, we quickly change our minds or opinions, or even maybe our clothes and hairstyles, based on what others think or say. We wear one type of shirt because it's the more popular style, even though in reality, we like that other style much better. Or we tell someone that "it's okay" because we know that's what we're supposed to say, regardless of if we mean it or not.

But the thing about all of that is that it shouldn't be necessary. Why do we always feel so obligated to change ourselves for others, even when it's just over something as small as maybe pretending to like a movie that we really do not like at all? It is time that the change we make is actually that we stop changing at all. Maybe the next time that whole movie situation comes up, you say which movie you really would like to watch. Or maybe, if you would rather do something totally different, you at least speak up and mention that other thing you would like to do.

This year should be a break from change, a break from changing yourself to please others. Watch the movie you really want, wear the shirt you like better, and tell someone that it isn't okay when it isn't. So for once, don't change, don't make resolutions. Or at least, that's just my opinion. If you want to change, change, but don't just do it because someone else makes you feel like you have to.