Ah, New Year's resolutions.
I make them. I break them. I forget about them. Then it starts all over. Such a vicious cycle. But alas! This year I will stick to them! This last semester was my roughest. It was also my most successful. I learned so much about myself through my toughest class. It was titled "Self, Society, and the Good Life". Everything I wrote, thought, or said was challenged. It was intense. I walked away with a better view of who I was, where I wanted to go in life, and how to get there.
So that's what this year is all about. The cliche "new year, new me". But instead of creating a new me, I'm cultivating the me that is here now. My goals this year are simple and focus around one word, meraki.
Meraki is a Greek word and doesn't directly translate to English, but is used to describe doing something with creativity, soul, or love. Putting yourself into whatever it is you do, whether it's picking out new curtains or creating a business plan. No more half-assing life. Fully, completely engaged and active in every aspect of life both boring and exciting and giving a small part of you to everything.
I have three goals altogether to help me live the meraki life: health, knowledge, kindness.
Health
I come from a long line of health problems and it's time I tackle them. I'm currently healthy according to doctor charts that don't make any sense to me, but I'm tired of feeling like I'm 35 and not 21. My year long goal is to lose 50 pounds. But that number is just a number. What I really want is to be able to keep up with my brother when we run the lake, to wear shorts in the summer without giving it a second thought, and to know that I (probably) won't be taking the same medications my parents are taking now.
Knowledge
Knowledge comes in all forms and I love learning. I hate studying, but I love learning. I'm surrounded by opportunities to learn but haven't taken advantage of them. I'm close to a city full of museums and festivals to visit with friends. I have a stack of books waiting to be devoured. This year will be filled with learning new skills (knitting), finishing old lists (all those boos), and discovering new things (day trips). It's also time I actually learn something in college, instead of just regurgitating phrases for an exam.
Kindness
I'm a nice person. I do the volunteering and the donating and I help people when they ask. But I discovered the Random Acts organization. They're an organization dedicated to making the world a better place, one random act of kindness at a time. This year, I'll be following suit. I don't have any big things planned. I don't think I'll be organizing any huge act of kindness but there will be little things. Leaving thank you notes to my boss, picking up around the house, sending fun mail to my best friend, letters to my sister in Indiana, buying coffee for the next person in line. Little things that might make someone else's day a little better.
And that's all I have. I'm already a good person, but I want to be better. There's so much life to live, so much world to explore and I think it's finally time I get at it.
***
Now Playing:
The Decemberists
Transit
Anarbor
I make them. I break them. I forget about them. Then it starts all over. Such a vicious cycle. But alas! This year I will stick to them! This last semester was my roughest. It was also my most successful. I learned so much about myself through my toughest class. It was titled "Self, Society, and the Good Life". Everything I wrote, thought, or said was challenged. It was intense. I walked away with a better view of who I was, where I wanted to go in life, and how to get there.
So that's what this year is all about. The cliche "new year, new me". But instead of creating a new me, I'm cultivating the me that is here now. My goals this year are simple and focus around one word, meraki.
Meraki is a Greek word and doesn't directly translate to English, but is used to describe doing something with creativity, soul, or love. Putting yourself into whatever it is you do, whether it's picking out new curtains or creating a business plan. No more half-assing life. Fully, completely engaged and active in every aspect of life both boring and exciting and giving a small part of you to everything.
I have three goals altogether to help me live the meraki life: health, knowledge, kindness.
Health
I come from a long line of health problems and it's time I tackle them. I'm currently healthy according to doctor charts that don't make any sense to me, but I'm tired of feeling like I'm 35 and not 21. My year long goal is to lose 50 pounds. But that number is just a number. What I really want is to be able to keep up with my brother when we run the lake, to wear shorts in the summer without giving it a second thought, and to know that I (probably) won't be taking the same medications my parents are taking now.
Knowledge
Knowledge comes in all forms and I love learning. I hate studying, but I love learning. I'm surrounded by opportunities to learn but haven't taken advantage of them. I'm close to a city full of museums and festivals to visit with friends. I have a stack of books waiting to be devoured. This year will be filled with learning new skills (knitting), finishing old lists (all those boos), and discovering new things (day trips). It's also time I actually learn something in college, instead of just regurgitating phrases for an exam.
Kindness
I'm a nice person. I do the volunteering and the donating and I help people when they ask. But I discovered the Random Acts organization. They're an organization dedicated to making the world a better place, one random act of kindness at a time. This year, I'll be following suit. I don't have any big things planned. I don't think I'll be organizing any huge act of kindness but there will be little things. Leaving thank you notes to my boss, picking up around the house, sending fun mail to my best friend, letters to my sister in Indiana, buying coffee for the next person in line. Little things that might make someone else's day a little better.
And that's all I have. I'm already a good person, but I want to be better. There's so much life to live, so much world to explore and I think it's finally time I get at it.
***
Now Playing:
The Decemberists
Transit
Anarbor
