Here's to hopefully letting these stick this year...
1. Dedicate a portion of each day for just you.
Whether it’s taking a walk in the afternoon or watching a certain television show as you’re doing your makeup in the morning, take some time to actually relax and not worry about anything. Be selfish for a little bit. You deserve it.
2. Don't let people and their problems overwhelm your need to take care of yourself.
You matter. Remember that. As important as it is to take care of the people who surround you and to make sure they’re okay, your feelings are just as important. Your stress levels should never be raised because you choose to listen to other people’s stresses. You are the star of your life, live like it.
3. Take care of yourself.
Get sleep. Take time to get ready every morning. Cook yourself real meals with actual nutrients that you’ll actually want to eat. Remember that you matter and you should be a priority in your own life!
4. Give yourself some romance every once in a while.
You’ll hear a million times in your life how you should just “fall in love with yourself”. Well, the only way to truly do that is to romance yourself. Take yourself out to dinner and just eat by yourself. Go see a movie you’ve been dying to see. Buy yourself your favorite flowers or write yourself encouraging notes you can put on your wall. Be the person you need.
5. Fall in love with what you are pursuing (and if you can't, change).
At the age of 18, we are told to decide what we want to be for the rest of our lives. For some of us, this works. For others, it definitely doesn’t. Spend this next year attempting to fall in love with what you chose because there’s a reason you did. If you can’t see yourself doing that, change. You may dread having to take a fifth (or sixth) year, but down the line it won’t matter when you’re spending your life doing something you’re truly passionate about.
6. Work on your faith.
Whether this means deciding what you believe in or developing your relationship with God, work on it. A life that has no beliefs is a life that’s not worth anything. Give yourself time to decide what you believe and be intent in showing that in everything you do. Your faith is what can get you through things when nothing else can.
7. Read.
Schedule time. Expand your horizons. Even if you get to just escape to Narnia or Pemberley for an hour every once in a while, it’ll be worth it.
8. Keep a journal.
We’re humans. We forget things and memories. Fortunately for us, journals came along long ago. Whether it’s the typical leather-bound book that sits on your bedside or a blog that holds all your secrets, keep a journal and keep it updated. You never know when future you will need to hear the lessons that you learned today.
9. Take advantage of your school's counseling center.
Look, we’re in college. We’re all stressed out of our minds and having to face the world in a very short amount of time. Your university knows this and has created a great, free service to you. Even if you just go once or twice a term, going and talking to a counselor can be exactly what you need to get through whatever challenge is being thrown at you.
10. Get rid of all negative people.
Dump the loser. Block the ex. Forget the girl who has never been nice or real to you. You only have one life and one college experience. Why are you spending it allowing people to bring you pain and sadness? Negativity can far outweigh the positivity and that’s not fair to you or the positive people in your life. Give yourself a break and realize that you are worth far more that people who don’t value you enough.
11. Have a major social media purge.
Get rid of all friends previously mentioned and more. And, in some cases, go as far as blocking them. If you haven’t talked to them in over a year and you don’t find yourself excited to see what’s happening in their lives, why are you friends with them on social media? Only keep people who make you happy or make you think in a positive and constructive manner. Yea, your follower and friend count may go down, but you’ll be glad you did it.
12. Go on random solo road trips where you don't know where you're going.
Whether it’s down the interstate or a random country road, just go. Adventure and take pictures of everything. Find new things that few people know exist, or that everyone knows exist and you’re behind on. Roll the windows down and just escape.
13. Turn off your phone for one day every two weeks.
Your friends, boyfriend, family, etc. can wait. We all become way too attached to these small devices that control our lives. The fear of missing a text of someone needing you is too real. Give yourself a day off. The friend who needs to talk will be okay waiting until tomorrow. The person who needs to rant to you can wait. You need a day to just heal and be by yourself. (PSA: Tell people before you do this so they don’t assume something happened to you…)
14. Go on walks without music.
As great as music can be to calm us or get us pumped up, there’s nothing as beautiful as the music that this world plays for us. Whether it’s the birds chirping or the train horn blaring, take the time to truly appreciate your surroundings without the barrier of earphones.
15. Try new things on your own.
Don't depend on other people to come along to allow you to try new things. Give yourself moments where you can say you did something all on your own and are so glad you did. Experience things. Live life. Know you can do it with just you.
16. Forgive the people who have hurt you, but don't give them too many chances to do it again.
Forgiveness is great. It’s important. Do it! However, forgiveness does not mean you have to allow people to have the access to hurt you in the same way again. Release the people who don’t deserve the chance to have you in their life because you don’t need to have to worry if they’re going to do it again.
17. Treasure every single moment.
You have one chance at 2017. You’re going to mess up. These resolutions will probably all be broken at some point and that’s okay. You’re allowed to make mistakes because life often has the ability to make mistakes turn into something absolutely beautiful.
Treasure this year. Take care of yourself and love every single moment because you won’t get a single second of it back.
Live it fully and regret nothing!
