Happy New Year: 5 Resolutions for 2016
January 02, 2016
“Your success and happiness lie in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” - Helen Keller
Happy New Year! I know, I know. It’s the second day of January for most of you and maybe even the third for some, but Happy New Year all the same. I hope you had a wonderful time bringing in 2016. I stayed in on New Year’s Eve. I visited with family and then returned home. It wasn’t super exciting, but it was what I wanted to do. I wanted to start 2016 in my home. I did venture out on New Year’s Day and finally had the opportunity to try Eight Sushi, review coming soon.
I had a lot of change in 2015, which brought me some of the lowest lows that I have ever experienced. I don’t intend for 2016 to be the same. Over the last year, I learned that you have to be true to yourself and that the saying that “happiness starts from within” or “…is an inside job” is so true. I realized that I was depressed, and while I thought I was managing things, I wasn't. I had put off dealing with my issues and myself and focused on other things in hopes that they would fill me up. I was wrong, and everything I did was tarnished because of it. I was waiting for Wonder Woman or a knight in shining armor to save me, or the Doctor to come and whisk me away in his Tardis, but the more I waited, the more detached and unhappy I was. It wasn’t until I hit a place where I acknowledged that something had to be done, or the path of my life might truly be derailed and that I may never get back on track, that I made a change. I had to take control and do something because no one could save me; even those who I didn’t realize were trying.
These revelations lead to resolutions; however, they are ones that started in 2015 and that I will continue into 2016. These resolutions aren’t just for the New Year and they aren’t a fad. They are goals that I have for my life and things that I will continue to work on. Many people who make resolutions fail. It’s just the truth of change. But, what I learned from 2015 is that you must not give up if you truly want to make a change. You will fail at times, and that is okay. Failure teaches us and helps us find better paths to success. If you fail, have a cry assess what went wrong, and then continue working towards your goal. If you are passionate about it, you will get there no matter how long it takes, and don't be afraid to ask for help along the way.
So what are my resolutions? This year, I resolve to:
2. Be present and practice mindfulness – This resolution ties directly into my first in that becoming a more mindful person will make me a better person. Mindfulness has been shown to have many benefits such as reducing stress, improving positive emotions, and improving social interactions. My goal is to be aware and be present in the moment (whether good or bad) and as Jon Kabat-Zin teaches to live my life “as if it really mattered, moment by moment by moment by moment,” because it does. I will begin practicing yoga and meditation to assist me in cultivating mindfulness.
3. Travel more – I love to travel! If you have had a conversation with me, you know that I advocate for people going beyond their borders, their sphere of comfort and getting to know other parts of the country, other cultures, and other parts of the world. I’m not the first to say it, but I believe that travel enriches us in so many ways. I travel a lot domestically for business but most of the time I don’t get the opportunity to really experience the location. I want to see more of the USA, take a cruise, and to see more of Europe, Africa, and Asia. I’m not a millionaire, so I do have to set smart and realistic goals for my travel, as well as a budget. My travel goals for 2016 are to visit three national parks (at least 1 in my state), one new state, and one country. I hope to surpass these goals but think that these are reasonable and easy to accomplish. There is so much to see and do in this world, and I am ready to go. I’ve even given my younger sister wanderlust. She’s not yet 18, and she wants to plan a trip to Amsterdam. Amsterdam may be the country I check off my travel goal list for this year and my life travel bucket list.
4. Be a better blogger – First, I want to say THANK YOU to those of you who are reading this post and who have visited my blog before. I appreciate you reading what I have put out over the last year and I promise to be more consistent with posts this year. The blog will be a little different in 2016 in that I plan to include more personal posts in addition to my normal entertainment posts. I hope that you enjoy and continue reading KizzyKingston in 2016. Also, I would love your feedback on what you like and what you don’t on the blog. Let’s have a conversation. I want to provide content that interests you as well as to share my thoughts and experiences.
5. Do – If you’ve ever had been depressed, you know that it can be hard to get anything done. Just getting out of bed or out of the house becomes a herculean task. So, for 2016, I plan to "do." I visited Lois Alter Mark’s blog, Midlife at the Oasis, where I read a post she wrote on her word of the year. She wrote about adopting “improve” as her word for 2015 and that for 2016 she would be going back to the word “do” and “embrace it as [her] word for life.” I think the word “do” is excellent and tidily sums up an infinite number of things in a simple syllable. All of the resolutions or “progressolutions” really all come down to the act of doing. In committing to “do,” I am committing to move forward, committing to progress, committing to better.
Did you make any resolutions for the New Year? If so, share them below in the comments.
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