New year, new beginnings, new opportunities to set things right and…new year’s resolutions.
Come January 1, we will make new year’s resolutions that might as well be called old year’s resolutions, since they have probably been the same for the past few years now, because we still haven’t managed to go to the gym more often or eat less cake (I know, this one is especially optimistic).
So this year I refuse to make new year’s resolutions. I refuse to set goals that I will most likely never achieve, and will make me feel bad at the end of the year.
There are a few things, however, I wish for us all:
> Get out of our comfort zone more often.
You know where life happens, right? Yep, it’s there, just looking at us and smiling, inviting us to take those two steps out of our comfort zones and hug it with all we’ve got.
> Do at least one of those things that we’ve always wanted to do, but scares the crap out of us.
That solo travel we’ve been planing for the last two years; the yoga teacher training we’ve wanted to take but think we’re not good enough for; open that company we’ve been dreaming of but don’t know if it’ll work. We can always come home, use the teaching skills on ourselves, close the company if it doesn’t work out.
> Make an “Awesomeness jar.”
Every time something amazing happens to us—it can be anything, even that amazing cake we just ate—let’s write it down on a piece of paper and put it in the jar. And every time we think our life isn’t “good enough,” let’s open the jar and read a few of those random moments. Let’s remind ourselves that life is pretty damn awesome after all.
> Go to sleep with gratitude in our hearts and wake up with a smile on our face.
> Whenever we feel like our problems are too big, let’s look at the moon and the sun and make our problems seem small.
We can solve this…or maybe it doesn’t even need to be solved.
> Give people the gift of our presence.
> Transform some of those ideas that we have in the shower into reality.
I don’t know about you, but I get some amazing ideas when I’m having a shower, but I completely forget about them when I step out on the mat. Maybe the trick is to have a notebook in the bathroom? Or a marker we can write on the tiles with? Hmmm…any ideas on this one?
> Love what we see in the mirror.
We don’t need more gym time, or less cake and more vegetables, to be more lovable. We’re already perfect and it’s time we realise that.
> Give compliments and random acts of kindness to people around us—loved ones and strangers alike.
It only causes us problems in situations that haven’t even happened and might never even happen. Relax and breathe.
> Believe in magic.
Because, like Roald Dahl says: “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
> Read children’s books and never miss out on simple wisdom that we sometimes forget when we get older.
> Cut the crap and be genuine.
Let’s be honest, with ourselves and with others.
> Quit—a job, a hobby, a relationship—whatever does not serve us well.
Quitting is not always a bad thing; sometimes it just means realising that something wasn’t meant for us. It’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of respect for ourselves.
But please, don’t mistake these wishes for resolutions. It doesn’t matter if we manage to do any of these or none. I just have this hope that if we at least try and strive towards doing few of these things, our lives will be a tiny bit nicer and happier.
Now go on and enjoy your 2015 without your resolutions! Doesn’t it just feel so…freeing?
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Author: Katarina Tavčar
Apprentice Editor: Hilda Carroll / Editor: Emily Bartran
Photo: Jonathan Leung via Flickr
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