Okay, so we are at that very strange time off the year, the very start of the year. Infact decade. So Christmas is over, and even the strange time at the end of December after it is over, when nobody knows what to do themselves. And there’s those of us who do not know what day of the week it is or what even is going on so they don’t achieve anything, meanwhile there’s people like myself who just about know but realise that not many people do so we just end up procrastinating, not really counting the last week or so as a valid period of time. But now the next year is upon us, and we all feel its about time to get moving with things. But how? A new year can bring all sorts, the positive, the negative and everything in between. And lots of us are basically trying to become the best versions of ourselves. But how do we do that. Some will spend a mammoth chunk of January in the gym as well as giving up any sort of food that tastes nice, thinking that going from a Christmas pudding to a pile of muscles will make the perfect person to conquer the year. Meanwhile others will buy a membership thingy, before deciding that in January the gym will be packed out, then come February all is forgotten. And then lots of us won’t bother at all, having a strong dislike of “giving up the good stuff” thinking that the point of life is to enjoy it, rather than taking some strict, dire and bleak attitude. So one can therefore emphasise with the view that these resolutions are pretty much hopeless, and unnecessary. Nevertheless I am going to take a different view this year, and onwards! Instead of sticking to some annoying, strict regime, or totally not bothering; I am going to take a different approach where I shall have resolutions which I am going to stick to! However I won’t exactly be working at them overnight. Or like now. I am going to move towards them in a slow and steady way, as the last thing I want is for them to be forged, and come the next month I will have forgotten all about them. So here is a list of my resolutions for this year, and well forever.
1. Have a warmer approach towards people; from family and close friends, allies and acquaintances and strangers. Like I know this sounds a bit clique however I genuinely think that If people were nicer the world would be a much nicer place. But wtf can me, you or anybody actually do? So it is rather likely we are already nice to friends and family generally. However sometimes people fall out, and the cause and effects of this can be awful. But think to yourself; do we really mean half of the unpleasant things we say. And is it really necessary to let issues stem from one minor occurrence. Now I’m not exactly perfect, I am pretty good at building up grudges against certain people, for pretty petty reasons. Like even if I don’t say anything, having unnecessary anger lets say towards certain people is rather unhealthy, and obviously once we open our mouths it becomes a lot worse… And it works a bit like that vise versa too. Sometimes I like someone, and want to say something positive, but my lazy, socially anxious, introverted ass tells me not to. Which isn’t good. Now regarding strangers it is much easier for me to make a difference in a way, not having to worry about the bricks needed to build a relationship. Therefore one tiny, nonpersonal act can make such a huge difference. That can be giving a homeless person a bit of change for a coffee, donating some noodles to a food bank, or volunteering for half an hour at a local charity shop. I am the queen of forgetting to do things, but I’m going to try not to and remember that doing one tiny thing to help can make a collosal difference to someone else.
2. Do more cool shit- and have the confidence to to so
So this is also something that I really want to do for new year. Now I think that too often, we are reluctant to put ourselves forward, thinking that we aren’t good enough, or not wanting to tread too far into the unknown. But that is rubbish. You are good enough! And the only way you can really find out if something is for you or not, is by trying. Logically thinking, you only get one life therefore if theres something you want to try, then bloody go for it! Therefore I want to do as much as I can this year, without the worry of “not being good enough” because I genuinely don’t want to have lived my life without having done different things enabling me to become a more experienced and well rounded person. As for me, in previous years, I haven’t had the self confidence to do everything that I have wanted to do. Therefore I’ve found myself having to catch up with a lot of it. But for anybody reading this, it is not too late. You have got a brand new year ahead of you and hopefully many many to come, so lets train ourselves to be more self confident and possibly pragmatic.
3. Be more happy inside my body, without the emotional exuastion of constantly comparing myself to others.
Okay, this too is rather misleading. But having struggled with body image in the past and worrying about whether I eat enough, too much or whatever, I want to continue going down the path of putting these thoughts behind and instead tuning into my body, at all times. Now generally I do this already, however I still often find myself comparing myself to others, and it is bloody emotionally exhausting. But at the end off the day, why should I worry about other people. No bodies are alike, therefore I should appreciate mine and treat it accordingly, rather than assuming it is wrong for me to be doing that because of how other people choose to treat theirs, if that makes sense. I might start doing a little bit more exercise too, not for the wrong reasons, but because I benefits the body in many ways and more importantly the mind. For me, I find that exercising can release a lot of nervous energy plus it enables me to be better focused. However I will still listen to my body, and try to know when enough is enough. As well I will try to eat slightly more healthily, but there is no way that I’m going to be cutting anything out (well apart from meat which I do anyways, but that’s a different ball game) Now by doing this, I am taking better care of myself and there’s many other ways to do this, apart this way. For you, taking better care of yourself may look totally different. But I think it is important for everyone to try to do more in order to look after themselves, as well as just others.
So here it is, my “happy new years message”, for what it is worth. But I do think that resolutions do not have to be made overnight but can instead take time. In fact, personally I think that aiming to start acting differently, or giving something up just like that overnight, is usually pretty useless as it just becomes so difficult to stick to. However if we see this as a long term aim, rather than some crazy, strict, hard to stick at obsession; I think that it is so much likely that we will achieve something in the long term. As opposed to something lasting a few weeks, then being forgotten about. So I do think that it’s best to see new years as being a time of reflection, and setting ourselves goals and challenges, and I think that this way we can slowly become a better version of ourselves and lead a better life. That’s in spite of the challenges and the ups and downs that the new year may also deliver.
So I do hope that everyone does have a good new year, and things run as smoothly as possible. So here’s to a new decade!
Victoria x
Personally Political 