Another Year Has Passed

Year after year, I make new years resolutions along with the masses - to lose weight, to spend more time with family, to find a dream job.. whatever it may be that is the chosen weak link in life that needs to be resolved within the next year. Every year I make an identical copycat list of the previous year's resolutions and within a few days, I give up and don't follow through on my plans just like most of the others surrounding me.

{image via etsy}

Making resolutions insinuates that there are so many issues and problems in your life that you need to fix them all in order to achieve happiness. Whether it is losing weight, spending more time with family, or whatever you decide to drastically change - common resolutions often have a negative underlying connotation that there is something wrong with you that needs to be fixed immediately. For instance, if your resolution is to lose weight - you're too big, spend more time with your family - you may feel disconnected or insecure about your relationship with them, to land your dream job - the job you have isnt good enough. Each thing you need to resolve is rooted in some insecurity that what you have and who you are right now is not good enough, and thats why you need to change. To add to that - not only are you not good enough, you are also incapable of resolving the problems in your life as they arise. You need a clean slate, a new year, to do that too because of your lack of self esteem and willpower to just change things because it will make you happier. And on top of that, the fact that you are setting yourself a short time period to complete a set of difficult tasks to achieve is quite overwhelming and inevitably leads to almost instant failure. We are all victims to this at some point, biting off more than we can chew, but with a positive attitude and a realistic approach to dealing with struggles, this can easily be overcome.

So this year instead of fueling the fire and picking out all the bad things about myself to resolve in the short time period of one year - I am creating a list of goals that will help shape my future instead of resolutions to try and make up for all the things I did wrong in the past. Here are my personal goals not only for this year, but until I feel they have become irrelevant and are no longer helpful:

Concrete Goals {

Continue blogging - This is something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I started this blog before the new years, and I would like to sit here and look back next year, 2013, and see the progress I have made and how much I have grown with this blog. It isnt about keeping a strict schedule, money, making a name for myself, or showing everyone my expensive (or lack thereof) clothing. Even if no one reads, it makes me happy to post here and this year I am choosing to embrace the happy in my life more than I have in previous years. 

Hot Yoga - Something I enjoyed briefly before the holidays was going to hot yoga classes. It was relatively foreign to me, but it made me feel great after each class. The people were friendly and the studio had a good vibe all around. Continue attending these classes, because it is something that is enjoyable.

Keep saving money - I have been saving money since I started working full time. I have a system in place currently that seems to be working out quite well, as I am not typically good at saving money. I am going to continue this, because it will help me in the future with school if (when?) I decide to go. It is also a positive reinforcement that I am capable of supporting many of the money-related aspects of my life. It is another step towards my independence, which is a good thing.

Things to Remember {

Avoid politics, and peoples inflated egos - Not politics, like government or elections - but politics within classes or situations where people in power let it go to their heads. Ego is a powerful things, but other peoples egos have nothing to do with anyone but themselves. This year, instead of gravitating towards people and situations of this nature, I want to avoid them and keep myself away from the warped, corrupted pyramid they falsely create beneath them in order to have some lick of self esteem. People who play the politics game in certain establishments are probably only doing it because they have nothing going for them outside that particular place. So really, there is nothing to worry about because where it matters, their politics don't. 

When having an Eeyore moment, keep calm.. and just dont - "Eeyore moments" are when you have a bleak outlook on circumstances that are otherwise mediocre - similar to the character Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Things could always be better, but they can also always be worse. There isn't a big dark cloud following you around, everyone has struggles at some point. Acknowledge it, deal with it, and move on without the Eeyore-esque doom and gloom. Is it going to rain? Tie up your hair, grab and umbrella and go out anyway. Oh, and don't forget to smile!  :)

Learn to let go - It is tough removing certain people from your life when you want to cling to them so.. sooo badly. Sometimes we realize that these people need to be let go of, but we cant take the step and actually move on. In the past I have tried and been successful in some of these types of situations, and unsuccessful in others. I want to be able to realize when people are bringing me down, and work towards making myself okay with letting them go more easily. Its for the best in the end, and things that are for the best are inevitable if you have a positive attitude. So people who don't deserve to be in my life, in the end will not be no matter what. This isn't a "dont talk to these people ever again" type of resolution but a reminder to choose people based on the things they do and not what they say, and to use this and surround myself with good people instead of people who suck energy. 

In a Nutshell {

Be happy with who I am, what I have, my life, and the direction it is headed.
Resolve problems as they arise.
Embrace the things that are enjoyable, avoid negativity.

This year, month, week, day and moment, are about being the person that I am. This years goals are my friendly reminder to myself about some of the important things to remember during each of the moments of my life. Because I cannot change the past, but I can focus on creating a future in which my years, months, weeks, days, and moments are all enjoyable ones.

Happy New Year!

Jules xo