My New Year's Resolution

Every New Year, people have the urge to make their New Year's resolutions. Promises that they will tend to fulfill in the year to come. Resolutions. Promises. Wishful thinking. That you will work on yourself to become a better person. To exercise more. To read more. To go out more. To pay more attention to your own needs and not care as much for what people say. Go travel. Buy something expensive.

Take a moment and think about your New Year's resolution. Did you make one? What did you promise to yourself? Have you started working towards it? Or did you forget it already? Each year we say we’ll start doing this, or stop doing that. But more often than not our big plans get dashed sometime in January. Whatever the case, I present you MY New Year's resolution for you. 

1. Forgive and forget. Most possibly one of the best pieces of advice I have ever read. Don't hold grudges. Whatever happened, happened and no amount of time spent on analyzing and grudging will make you feel better. Let it go. The more you think about it, the more negative thoughts fill your brain and you end up not being happy. In a year from now, that little thing that seems so important, won't even cross your mind. Then why stress about it? Just don't. Eventually, if it is something someone did to you that hurt you, take it as a lesson and move on. Forgive and forget.

2. Be honest. To yourself. This is the best policy you might incorporate in your life. Don't just lie to yourself. Do I really want this? Will it make me happy? Is it necessary? Will it make me feel bad? Will it add value to my life?

3. Make a difference. I tend to do small acts on a daily basis to brighten up someone's day. A simple note on a colleague's desk. A text sent to a friend's cell phone. Well-hearted wish for someone's special occasion. Buying chocolate for someone. Buying/picking flower and giving it as a gift. No reason needed. Just for the heck of it. Compliment someone. On their eyes. On their smile. On their passion. On their strength. They'll appreciate it. You know the saying: Maybe it won't make a difference to the whole world, but it will, for sure make a difference in that person's world. The best part is that it will make YOU feel great. Noble. 

4. Find your passion and follow it. Whatever this is, make the most out of it. Fill your free time working on it, developing it, molding it. Make it flow through you, it will attract even bigger passion. For life. 

5. Don't hate. Hate is a way too strong word for you to have in your vocabulary. You might not like something/someone, but don't hate. You don't want to disperse that kind of energy in the universe. You know how they say that dogs can smell the fear in people? Well, it's the same with people. They sense when someone's filled with hate. It is not a good vibe. 

6. Work on yourself. Get in the best shape you can. Physically, mentally, spiritually. Set apart a time in the day or the week when you will have a few moments to improve yourself in any given way. It will make you feel proud of yourself, boost your ego and make you love yourself more. People care about people who care about themselves.

7. Go on adventures. Go to the concert of a local band you have never heard or have a water balloon fight at 2 a.m, or go to a new restaurant you've been wanting to go to, and stop falling into the idea that you have to be traveling or have a lot of money to have incredible adventures and make your life mean something.

8. Read. Read a lot. Novels, poems, blog posts, people's opinion on music, food, social responsibility, politics. Whatever grinds your gears. Just read. Enrich your vocabulary. Broaden your horizon. See a new point of view. 

9. Love more. And express your feelings. You like someone, let them know. You love someone - it is imperative that you tell them. Let people know what you love. The smell of fresh baked cookies. The smell of freshly cut grass. The sound of a river softly running down. The taste of the new chewing gum. Love someone's laughter? Tell them. Love more. 

10. Smile more. Spread da joy. People love you.

11. Whatever you decide, don't ever give up. No matter how many times you fail, there is still a new day coming, a new sunrise to be watched, a new coffee to be drank, a new challenge to be achieved. If you can imagine it, you can do it.

12. Be you. You were molded the way you are today by your own fights. The scars that you carry are a proof that you fought and won. Or failed and learned. You were born an original. Don't fade away as a fake copy. Let your light shine. It will light up someone's day, I promise.

13. Remember:

Happy New Year, my dear friends. May all of you go through with your New Year's resolutions. Wishing for all of you that this year ends being ridiculously amazing.  

Over and out,

Tanya Jones