For most of the new year is rung in with excitement and anticipation, but for others it's greeted with a bitter "meh". The majority think of this as a time for celebration and self-improvement. Countless lists are made every year resolving to reinvent who we are into someone newer and better and it's a running joke among the human species that our resolutions do not come true. Whether it be that you want to lose weight, become more toned, be more organized, finally start that hobby that you always put off, the result is always the same. We try for a while and tell others how good or not so good we're doing with that diet, exercise routine, or resolution to start bullet journaling and it fades away as the months wear on. There isn't a problem found with the disappearance of our personal promises because our culture has accepted "resolutions" as another aspect of the holiday to come and go. It's the natural way, but it doesn't have to be.

Resolutions, whether they be officially listed or stated, are often accompanied by the mentality that by changing or improving a few things about your life you will magically gain a new one like in a game; in other words "new year, new me". The true problem here is that you don't transform into a new being within the fraction of time it takes for the ball to drop and the clock to strike twelve in the world's various time zones. Whether you're picturing your "new me" as a blank slate or a perfectly improved version of who you were "last year" -as in 60 seconds ago, you're highly overestimating the power of time.

Sure, time does naturally change us as people. It isn't about the year however it's how we affect the experiences we have. We make them happen, they don't randomly happen to us. Resolutions are fine truly, wanting to improve yourself is a great endeavor but do so with the idea that you are improving the you that you already are. Not a "new me" but the Self you were each and every day of 2016 and before. Be the Self who has already had all of your experiences and memories. The solution isn't a new person to take over your life it's you taking charge for yourself. "New me" should not be your idea of a good new year. It should be "same me except now I can knit and I'm a successful vegetarian and I did these things because I really wanted to and don't feel like I failed as a human if I can't do more because I am who I am", but that's a bit more wordy so I can see why it would take a bit to catch on.
Be yourself, time doesn't control you -you control you, and have a great 2017.