As the clock struck midnight on 31 December, everyone welcomed the new year with much excitement and enthusiasm, hopeful for a year filled with new challenges, opportunities and blessings.
It is also the time of the year where you will hear the phrase, “New year, new me” ad nauseum, as people make long lists of resolutions for the new year, resolutions that often only last for a week or two.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you should not make new year’s resolutions, what I am saying is, maybe we should rethink the type of resolutions we make and the way we look at the countless opportunities offered by a new year.
Yes, to lose weight, eat healthier, exercise more or drink less coffee is good and noble resolutions, but, is it sustainable? It is only going to be so long before you grow tired of the green kale, the smell of the gym at 5am or crave the caffeine, and, as your resolutions are forgotten before the end of the first month of the new year, you will feel like a failure.
Instead of seeing the new year as an opportunity to make lists of (often) unattainable and unsustainable lists of things you should do more, think of it as a book with 366 (yes, a whole extra day bonus this year!) blank pages, affording you the chance to be the author of your own story, a chance to write it the way you want it.
So, maybe instead of trying to change yourself into a ‘new’ you, why not try to be a better you? Almost like a You: Version 2.0. Why not take a step back and think of ways that not only you, but those around you as well, can benefit from towards a happier way of life?
Try to be more sincere in your daily life, smile more at strangers, laugh more, spend more time with your loved ones, stop worrying about the opinion of others and live your best life! Try to focus more on the positives and count your blessings every day, and, if you are able, help those in need.
I will leave you with an apt quote from Paulo Coelho, “Life is short. Kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly.”
Until next week …
