We all have those moments in life where we contemplate the choices we have: going to the gym or allowing yourself to relax and eat ice cream for the night, raising your hand to boldly answer a question in lecture or silently sit there and wait for somebody else to answer, asking that really cute someone out on a date or continuing to lay low and admire them from a distance -- the list can go on and on.
That being said, my challenge to whoever is reading this is to take the first options. Don't question yourself with every single decision and go with your first instinct. 2016 is like the beginning of a new book or journal; you have no idea how it's going to end yet. So why let it end the same as 2015 did? Or 2014, 2013, 2012, etc.
Let this year be the year to become the best version of you. Keep in mind the word "you." Becoming the best version does not mean living up to everybody else's expectations of the person that you should be. Let this be the year you look at yourself in the mirror and are 110 percent proud to see your reflection staring back at you (cue the song "Reflection" from Mulan.) After all, you are your own worst critic.
Whether you are just starting a new job, entering your final semester of college, or retiring after a long and fulfilling career, we all deserve the same satisfaction of being happy in our own skin.
Loving yourself is going to be the only way that you can ever truly move forward this year. Everybody has flaws, and not everybody is perfect like Hannah Montana says, believe it or not. But it's what people decide to do with those slight imperfections that makes them unique and beautiful.
Don't slip away into the crowd this year. Don't become just another crayon in the box. Jump outside of your comfort zone and take a leap into the unknown. This is your year and you have full control over what happens in it.
Personally, I plan on making sure the ones I love most know exactly how much they mean to me every single day.
You know what they say, you never truly know what day may be your last. So let's make these next 365 days the best ones yet. I dare you.
