On the 30th of December I wrote a whole list of New Year’s Resolutions in my bullet journal. There are 33 of them, which is a huge number. The inspiration for these 33 resolutions came from the absolute craziness that was 2020. I say craziness, because I don’t mean that it was all bad. Actually I think I really enjoyed most of 2020. It gave me a new appreciation for life.
From beginning to end it was a year of gargantuan changes and moments of growth. 2020 changed my perspective on so many aspects of life. I think differently now about life and the world. God has shown me how to be more compassionate. I also look at my family differently, because we have spent so much of this year together. It has strengthened our bonds, helped us to understand each other better, and I am so thankful I got to live through 2020 with them. I look at my role in this world a bit differently now, because I take it more seriously. 2020 I think was the year I really grew up.
Not only did I learn a lot this year, I also gained so much. I gained so many new friends, I gained a renewed appreciation for work, and I gained new love in general. 2020 probably didn’t seem like a year of blessings for many people, but for me it was a year I believe I will always cherish and be thankful for.
For these reasons, New Year’s Resolutions were easy to come by for me. I thought up so many because in 2021 I want to live with intention. I want to carry on the wonderful things about 2020 and leave behind the bad parts. My life is so much different than it was a year ago and it has given me a new zest for life. A new love for it. These resolutions are ways I want to thrive and grow. I think I will share a few of them here.
The Resolutions
1. See the Ocean
I have never seen the ocean, not the Atlantic or the Pacific. I want to see one of them this year because I want to experience the vastness of it. I want to feel the saltiness in the air. Traveling is something I want to do more of in general this year. One of my lifelong goals is to see as much of the world as I can. I want to know what it’s like to travel and see new places and meet new people. I want my eyes and heart opened to what this huge world holds.
2. Write Something I’m Proud Of
Most years I have a goal to write every day and sometimes I tack on the goal to get something published. This year is different. I’ve realized my limits and that I need to make more realistic goals. I would like to write a lot and I would love to get published, but those aren’t really goals for me this year.
However, I want to write something really good this year. I don’t know what it will be. A short story perhaps, or maybe a novel, even a poem would be great. As long as it is something I’m really proud of. I want to put in as much time as I need to make that possible. For a few years I didn’t write much at all, and then late in 2019 the spark came back. Now it is here to stay, I believe.
Writing is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It is a friend. It is a confidante. It is an art form that I have taken for my own and I love it. It is a shame that I left it by the way side for a few years. I was working towards the goal of being a writer without actually being one for a while. This year I want all that to change.
3. Don’t Be Negative Anymore, Find the Positives
This is something that I will really have to fight hard for this year. Being positive and upbeat is not something that comes naturally to me. My heart finds it easily to be disappointed by even the smallest things. I have always been this way, and in 2020 I decided that I wanted that to change. Something about the tons of negativity that came from every direction stirred something in me, and another reason made me want to practice positivity.
I experienced an intense positivity from a dear friend of mine. He is always positive, and 2020 proved to be no exception to this. No matter what crappy circumstances he found himself in or hardship he faced, he always had something positive to say. This made me take a good, long look at my heart, and I realized that I would be a much happier person if I were more positive, and a better Christian.
4. Make a Thankfulness List for Every Month
I have tried to do this before and have failed every time, but I am going to try again anyways. I think it’s really easy to get into the habit of just living passively and letting life pass by without really reflecting on it. I don’t want life to pass me by; I want to be actively living, and I believe a thankfulness list will help me achieve this in some way.
If I am pausing every day to take just a moment to write down some moment, person, or thing that I am thankful for that day then I won’t be living passively. I will actively look back at the day and find that there are beautiful moments in even the most dull days.