We all know the popular saying; "New year, new me". Usually we take it as a bunch of BS. New Year's resolutions are just promises waiting to be broken. Every blue moon a resolution is kept for a maximum of maybe five months. There's not much "new" happening. Now, everybody has high hopes for 2017 since so much happened in 2016 (the crazy election, David Bowie and Gene Wilder and Alan Rickman and Prince died, Brexit, Harambe was shot) and I'm honestly hoping for a better year, too. I'm not making a resolution, per se, but I am making a few promises to myself:
Firstly, I promise that I'm going to put in more effort towards the people around me. Whether it be my best friends, family, classmates, or complete strangers, everybody deserves respect, patience, and love. You don't always know what people have been through or even what their day has been like. It's important to be kind to everyone and to try and understand them instead of making quick judgements and getting upset over something said or done.
Next, I promise to stop being so hard on myself. I need to tell myself more positive things rather than negative things. More "you look really good today, Logan" and less "well you'd look better if....."'s. They say that you can't fully love someone else until you love yourself. While I don't completely agree with that, I feel like it'll be easier to spread my love when it's coming from internalized love for myself.
An obvious promise is that I'm going to treat myself better. This is different from loving myself more, because while I'm going to be more loving, I'm still going to work to improve me. I want to eat healthier and workout more and just take better care of myself. I'm not into the whole 'getting tired after climbing one flight of stairs' thing. So it's time to improve my health. (I know everyone makes this resolution and the gym is going to be packed but that's okay. Good for them and good for me.)
Finally, I promise that I'm going to be a better person. I want to be someone that people can look up to. I want to be the friend that is always helping out and is always there to talk about anything or help with anything. I want to volunteer more, I want to donate more, I want to help the world and the people in it. I have so much privilege and power that it's time to start putting it to good use.
So yes, while these are technically "resolutions", I won't be calling them that. They're promises to myself. I won't have a checklist or any markers noting my progress, but I'll know. I honestly want to better myself and I think these promises are really going to help. So, goodbye 2016, hello 2017. Get ready for the "new" me.
