The start of the new year is a grand holiday. We get to say goodbye to the "good's" and the "bad's" of the previous year, and we get a chance at a fresh start for the year ahead. I don't mean to be THAT person, but we literally get to bring the phrase "New year, new me" to life. One of the reasons that I love New Year's is because I love change. I love getting the chance to switch up everything I did the past year, and try something new. This is part of the reason why I love New Years resolutions so much. I love thinking of what mine are going to be for the year, and I love hearing what other people come up with for their New Years resolutions. The only thing I seem to have trouble with is fulfilling all of my resolutions! I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say that, during the year things just don't always go as planned, and sometimes we get off track. I can't even tell you how many years in a row I've made my resolutions to be "lose weight", "eat right", "go to the gym", and "get a boyfriend". I can assure you that now, several years later, not one of those resolutions has been fulfilled (cries and laughs at the same time). So, this year I'm not going to hold myself to those kind of words. I'm just going to let those things happen when they happen. Instead, I have a compiled a new list of some of my resolutions for 2017. Even though my track record of keeping resolutions throughout the year isn't exactly impressive, I think this new list accounts for tasks that can still be completed even if life doesn't go EXACTLY as planned.

Go to Bath and Body Works More. Simple enough, right? I haven't been in a Bath and Body Works store in several years. However, I was just in one the other day while Christmas shopping for my mother, and my sense of smell was absolutely BLOWN AWAY. Why haven't I been shopping here forever?! So, in 2017 I have decided to start giving my body the scents it deserves.....starting with Warm Vanilla Sugar.

Treat Myself. Tom and Donna from Parks and Recreation have opened my eyes to the concept of "treat yo' self". I'm always so busy that I never really just stop and say "You know what, Alex? TREAT. YO. SELF." So, this year, I am going to start giving myself well-deserved "treat myself" days every now and then. We all deserved to be pampered, and if no one else is going to do it, then we've got to pick up the slack and treat ourselves!

Stop Complaining. I'm not going to lie. I complain about my fair share of things; I think we all do. However, 11 times out of 10, I only end up frustrated or miserable after complaining about something. Sure, it takes up a good amount of my day and gives me something to do, but it totally kills any positive vibe that I had going for me. So, I've decided to just cut the shit and stop complaining about things that do me no good to complain about. This year is going to be about being HAPPY!

Talk to New/More People.Talking to people isn't exactly my specialty. It's not that I'm bad at it, I just don't do it very often, or if I don't have to (I know, that sounds horrible). I always say "I have many acquaintances, but very few friends". So, this year I think I'm going to step up my game a bit in the art of talking to people. I figured it wouldn't KILL me to talk to someone or some people in a few of my classes and try to make new friends. It won't physically hurt me (maybe) to ask someone how their day is going and make small talk. This will probably be the hardest resolution of all, but I'm definitely ready to take on the challenge!

Focus on the GOOD things happening. I previously wrote an article titled "Count Your Blessings, Literally" that talked about focusing on all of the tiny blessings and good things going on around you in your life, and I've decided that that is something I want to make a priority this upcoming year. I want to be seeing and being involved in all of the good and wonderful things happening in my life, and be less concerned or obsessed with the negative things.

So, while all these items might not seem like that much, or that serious (@ Bath and Body Works), they are definitely going to make an impact on this year ahead, 2017 is going to be our chance to redefine ourselves and make of the year what we can. I hope everybody has a wonderful New Year's, and feel free to share with me some of your New Year's Resolutions!