With everyone celebrating the coming of a new year, it is almost impossible to ignore the fact that in just a few short hours, I will have to forget about putting 2010 at the end of documents and start putting 2011. That really is the only actual change that will occur as the clock strikes midnight and people kiss, drink, and pass out. Once everyone sleeps off the excess liquor and beer, they will begin a journey that many people refer to as a New Year’s resolution. Sure, we can all do with eating better, stopping bad habits, and promising to not call that person we have vowed to never talk to again, except those nights when you have too many cocktails and your friends don’t take your phone. I will admit to having made quite a few resolutions in the past but never sticking to them. I find the idea of forcing myself to do something or not do something for a full calendar year to be ridiculous. I have found that doing things randomly and for no real reason to be the things I stick with longer. So, instead of doing something that will make me miserable for two months until I decide to give up and forget I even tried, I am going to try to do something fun and different.
My New Year’s resolution was born around the idea that I want to enjoy life more. I have spent so much of my life stressed about the future that now I am in the future and have nothing to really look forward to. So, I am going to venture out of my shell and into the real world and not the adult world of working and raising a family. I am venturing into the world of happiness and experiencing new and different things. No, I won’t be getting random piercing or joining a cult (no matter how much fun they make it out to be). I am simply going to embrace the world around me and hope that something inspires me enough to make something more out of my life. Yes, this all seems like something out of Eat, Pray, Love or any independent film about finding one’s self, but this isn’t a movie or book. This is my life and I need to start living it before it is over.
So, starting January 1st, I am going to make the most out of my life. Sure, I will have my days where I will not leave my apartment or those evenings where all I want to do after work is go to sleep, but I will try my best to do things differently. Now, since this is a resolution, I may end up scrapping this whole idea and deciding to become a recluse that never interacts with the world around me, but that is the risk I am willing to take in order to better myself.
