So, we are two weeks out from January 1st, aka the New Year, aka the end to the dumpster fire that has been 2016. This seems to be the perfect time to take stock of our lives. To reflect and to take pause and project into the universe how great things could be in 2017, à la The Secret. To get ready for 12:00 a.m. on 01/01, when we get to solidify our goals for the whole year!
Yeah, no thanks...
I hate the idea of the “New Year, New You” phenom because while January 1st may come up champagne roses, come January 2nd, when you're dragging your hungover ass out of bed to the same shitty job you had December 31st, the the cold hard truth hits: you are the same you, no matter how many goals your drunk self-made the night before (statistics show only 8% of people are actually successful in achieving their resolutions, anyway.) Real change takes hard work throughout the year, not just an aspirational midnight prayer. Not only that, there are time zones, and that has always confused me a bit. Like remember when Y2K was a thing and the world was going to end at midnight, but they never really specified whose fucking midnight? Like seriously, WHOSE MIDNIGHT? China's? Australia's? Kenya's? Seriously, at what exact time do we all die? Inquiring minds need to know, or, at the very least, paranoid ones do.
It's not that I don't get the desire to amp oneself up for the new, and as of yet unknown year. 2016 has been rough, to say the least. Everyone we love is dying or dead, and now we have the Trumper looming about as President-Elect, looking to grab anything he can from America with his small, ham-handed fists like it's an episode of Supermarket Sweep, or one of his bankrupted casinos. In the face of all of this outside oppression. all we can want to do is to be better people for ourselves, and the community around us. Be the change you want to see in the world, or what not. All I'm saying is to not put all of your chips on one number in order to win off of the roulette wheel that is your life. Instead of putting all of your faith into one day a year, use every day to reassess and encourage yourself. What could be your goal one day could have little- to no- bearing on what you'll need the next day, so flexible both with your goals and yourself. Allow life to come to you instead of putting yourself into a box you can't escape from without feeling like a failure. Taking tiny steps every day instead of one big leap for the whole year.
Or you know, you can just do you, and not take advice from someone who is obviously projecting! Happy Holidays!