Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Resolutions

Location: Couch
Listening to: The Princess Bride

This past year has brought a lot of changes to my life. Some were really great, others not so much. Looking back, the one thing I can conclude is that I am an extremely blessed girl. I have been given so many fantastic opportunities, and I have so many wonderful and loving people in my life.

I've got a number of resolutions this year. I don't remember what my resolutions last year were (I think I made a post about them, but I'm too lazy to look for it), so if I made any, I'm pretty sure I didn't stick to them.

I want this year to be different, because there are some big changes I want and need to make in my life.

1.) Less junk food, more exercise. I think this is most peoples go-to resolution, but it's something I really want and need to do. My diet was terrible this year and I wasn't nearly as active as I should have been, so I've gained weight and am probably not as healthy as I should be at this point in my life. I really want to fix that. It's not so much about what I look like or what other people see when they look at me. I want to know that I'm healthy and that I'm doing good things for my body. I want to feel confident and proud of my lifestyle instead of buying pints of Ben & Jerry's when I know I'll be home alone for a while and eating it all in one sitting. Eating lots of junk is bad. Waiting  to eat lots of junk until you know no one will see you do it is a problem.

2.) Be! Assertive! B-E ASSERTIVE! One of the best things about me is also one of my greatest weaknesses: I always want to make other people happy. I want to make other people happy SO MUCH that I completely ignore how what they want will affect my own happiness. Generally, I'm proud of this fact. But in some situations, wanting to make other people happy makes you a doormat. After a while, people know you'll just go along with whatever they suggest and they begin walking all over you. And then you just get really unhappy. But it's a vicious cycle and it's hard to break. So, this year, I'm going to stand up for myself more. I'm going to find a good balance of trying to make other people happy and trying to make myself happy. Sometimes it's okay to be selfish, especially about big and important things.

3.) Answer when opportunity knocks. As those of you who've been with me the entire time I've had this blog know, I suffer from anxiety. It's not constant and I've got it pretty much under control, but there are times where I let my anxiety dictate my decisions. Sometimes opportunities come up that seem incredible, but I scare myself out of taking them. This year, I want to actually live life. I don't want to stay at home because I'm afraid that the other people my friends are hanging out with won't like me. I don't want to cancel trips to visit my friends because I'm worried that something on my trip will go wrong. I don't want to life my life in a self-inflicted bubble. I want to go and do things and have fun and live!

That's pretty much my plan for the new year. I love that each new year gives you a fresh start. It's always exciting to think about all of the great things that could happen in the next twelve months.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? What were they this year? If you don't, why not? Let me know in the comments!