I can't lie, I'm a bit different than some people. I prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas and Halloween combined. Stability, as enticing as it sounds bores me to no end. I like to stay in and play NBA 2K17 with old TV show re-runs playing on my iPad mini. My idea of a fun night is staying in and watching movies, while simultaneously thinking of screenplays and what my next big move is. I'm always on the move and what satisfies me one minute, may not always be the same as much as an hour from now. Maybe I'm weird, or unique, or maybe I just really need to get my life together. Regardless, I don't really get caught up in the traditional.
Hanging up Christmas lights and decorating trees, never been my thing, at least not since I was a kid (and honestly give me the present after you buy it, don't waste the wrapping paper). I went trick-or-treating, maybe once or twice before the age of 17, and it was thirty minutes from my house. And as anyone who knows me will tell you, I have no problem chilling outside at parties if I'm not feeling it. I'm all about vibes and having a basic semblance of my environment and then going from there. Tradition, or status quo don't appeal to me. This isn't a dig on anyone who loves the things that I don't, but I just wanted to distinguish myself before I write this. So with all of that out of the way, let's begin.
I hate New Year's Resolutions. They disgust me. They're just about everything that's wrong with human progression.
Alright well, I don't hate them. I think the principle behind these resolutions is wonderful. Wanting to be a better version of yourself is always an admirable aspiration. But acting like a New Year will make you become a new person, is flawed logic. I get it "fresh start". 2016 is over, so now things can change and be better. And to an extent, I believe that is true. However, I'm an even firmer believer in the idea that we are what we do and what we have done. And because there is always a tomorrow, as long as we are living, we can always be more...but we're not more until we do more.
If 2016 was a garbage year for you, and "escaping" to 2017 gives you solace, I wish you all the power in the world to kick ass in this new year. Demolish the memory of 2016, and take only the things that will propel you forward, but don't tie your success to the renewal of a new year, because the reality is that years, months, days, time, all of it is relative. We as people made it as a way to measure tasks, lives, and to simplify, in many ways, a complicated existence. While I can't encourage the idea of abandoning the concept of time, I can suggest this. Stop letting a year be the villain. But don't stop being the hero in your story.
2017 is going to be hard, so is 2018, and 2019. But those years will be wonderful and beautiful in many ways. And I personally know that I'm going to start and stop, and start and stop on all of my goals and aspirations. So while the beginning of the year is a great place to start the great transformation, transcendence, and beautification of Anthony Mensah's life, I'm not doing it as my "resolution", I'm doing it because I want to be better than I currently am. And if I mess up and have to start fresh on March 17th, 2017...I'll do it, because time doesn't define my ability to be successful, and in my opinion, it shouldn't define anyone's.