Lift your intentions.

My yoga professor would throw casually this mantra into every class. It was meant to ground you, to help you clear your mind. Most kids said they joined yoga to destress from school life.

I joined it for my roommate.

It fit easily into my schedule. I’d never done yoga before. Exercise is important, blah blah blah. There were many reasons to join yoga, but I never would have signed up if my roommate hadn’t first.

And though, lift your intentions, became a running joke between us, the motto has become surprisingly helpful.

Friendship is my intention, as declared by my yoga professor. And yeah, that’s pretty spot on. I don’t have a list of new years resolutions for 2018. Instead, I have only two things:

1. A structured schedule

2. My intention

My calendar is packed with classes and work, and I had already outlined them before 2018 started. Although my calendar reliable and reassuring, but in it’s also overwhelming. I can block out time for everything: homework, my writing and other extracurriculars, and naps times. It's very important to plan these things out, and to leave a buffer between them.

But my intention is what drives me.

I intend to be the best friend possible.

I am defining what kind of person I want to be with my intention. I want to be seen as reliable, supportive, kind and loving. I want to be trusted.

Yes, I do want to be healthier. I do want to get good grades. I want to make money. I want to fall in love. I want to gain life experiences and travel the world. But those are vast dreams, as unexplored and intangible as the stars in the sky.

In order to reach these goals, I’m choosing a principle to live my life on. Every choice I make will be based on being a best friend, on being honest, and loving, and generous, and helpful.

You can’t strut into the new year with a list of general life accomplishments, some grubby, recycled bucket list, and expect to make it past the first month. You need a battle strategy. You need resolve and heart. You need good intentions, no matter what some old guy once said about paving roads to hell.

Intention, as defined by Merriam-Webster, “is a determination to act in a certain way.” And it is also “a process or manner of healing.”

Step bravely into the new year with a plan, a solid mindset, and change. Heal. Both mind and spirit are important.

When you say you want to get better grades, you may better define this goal with a study schedule, a good system of notes, the promise to stay off your phone is class, and the willing participation in your professor’s office hours. But that’s only one part.

You need to look deeply within yourself, to find your driving intention. You might want to learn so you can feel more confident in making strong decisions in your future. You may want to prepare yourself for the working world, to be the top in your field.

Well-defined intention will keep you from falling off the track.

It’s okay to lose sight of your goals. Everyone does at some point. The important thing to learn from your mistakes, not beat yourself up over them. You need to find something that you can always refocus on.

Lift your intentions, kids.