Every January for the past three years, I have made the same one-word New Year's Resolution: Beauty. Spiritual beauty, physical beauty, and mental beauty have been my goal, wanting to focus on my relationship with the Lord, making sure that I treat my body right (AKA take a step back from the junk food and fix my over-exposure to technology), and doing my best in school. But by December, I'm always frustrated with my lack of self control and its various, exasperating results. So, no more! I think that our society treats New Year's Resolutions the wrong way. It's all about an overnight, instant change in lifestyle. Please understand: that's not possible. Just take your year one day at a time.

The biggest resolution every year is to lose unwanted weight. Instead of focusing on being skinny, focus on being healthy. Because our bodies are all created differently, we're all going to be a different weight. I realized a long time ago that my sister is always going to weigh less than me because as an athletic, lanky, six-foot-tall 15 year old, her body is going to be different than my curvy, 5'9" self that doesn't ever do sports. And that's okay. Life is all about choices. If you 'treat yourself' to a donut every single morning, and have two slices of pizza every other day, you're never going to lose that 10 pounds. And I'm by no means trying to preach to the choir, because I love pasta and French Fries. But I've found that when I eat healthy, my body feels so much cleaner. I don't know how else to explain it, but I feel amazing. Michael Pollan says in his book 'In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto' to "eat real food, mostly plants, and not too much." A slice of pizza every once awhile is fine, but overindulgence isn't. And just to play devil's advocate, being too skinny can be unhealthy too. Life is all about balance, and weight is no exception. Find what makes you feel the best and go with it babe.

And in regards to school, instead of vowing on the first day of class to finish with all A's and B's, tackle it, as my mother says, like eating an elephant: piece by piece. Make sure you study for tests, and prepare for class. Get your work done early, and make sure that you take time to de-stress! Try new study techniques: This past semester, I tried studying with another person for the first time and it was extremely helpful. So as long as you do your best this semester, you don't have to worry about a thing.

While these are only a couple of resolutions, I think they're pretty prominent ones. So, make mistakes, go on adventures, love with all your heart. Read books, drink tea, make flower crowns. Play a new sport, go hiking, travel to another country. If you're still a teenager, make the most of your time as a kid! Live your life to the fullest, so that by the time 2018 rolls around, you're excited to do it all over again.