Let 2016 Be YOUR Year

Every time the new year rolls around I notice two types of people: those screaming NEW YEAR NEW ME, and those proclaiming that you don't need the clock to strike midnight on a new year to make a change.  While I agree that starting over, changing directions and taking on a new perspective doesn't need permission from a new year, I enjoy the endless possibilities of starting fresh in a new year.  

There is something intriguing to me about a new year meaning a chance for renewal.  I don't need a new year to be better person, I'm growing and changing every single day, but a new year, for me, means a gravitational pull towards bigger and better changes.  I see it as a chance to recover from the mishaps and misgivings from the previous year.  It's an opportunity to utilize the lessons I learned in the past year as a guide for my fresh start.

If you read my previous post, in 2015 I learned a lot about myself, friendship and where I'm headed. As challenging and unpredictable as 2015 was for me, I wouldn't change a thing.  I needed to get hurt, to know I deserved better.  I needed to get lost to know that the journey to self-discovery is an everyday battle.  I needed intimate one-on-one time with friends to be reminded that I'm not as alone as I feel.  We go through things, good and bad, that end up shaping us, shaping us into who we're meat to be, and we have to remember to embrace everything thrown our way.

And on that note, let's delve into how we can make 2016 OUR year.

Enjoy the beauty around you, but don't let it overshadow your own. Let the creativity, beauty and talent of your peers inspire and motivate you to be the absolute best version of yourself. We are all at completely different phases in our individual lives, accelerating at varying speeds, no one is meant to be at the same level as anyone else at the same time.  Go at your own pace at your own time and you will get where you need to be.

Stop seeking validation in the approval of other people. The number of likes on your Instagram selfies does not determine your beauty or value.  The only person who needs to be happy when it comes to how you look, dress, act, or feel is YOU. Stop waiting for someone to tell you how pretty you are, TELL YOURSELF YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, even if you don't believe it. You are not unworthy if someone isn't treating you with the utmost respect, they are in the wrong, not you.

Stop waiting to be a priority in someone else's life, prioritize yourself.  BE SELFISH. If you're not happy with a friendship or a relationship, make a change. If they're making you feel  undervalued and forgotten it's time to say goodbye. You deserve happiness and you deserve to feel loved.

Stop shaming yourself for how you feel.  The things that make you tick, that stir you up, that hurt you? Those things make you who you are. Stop trying to suppress them.  They're uncontrollable and you shouldn't have to hide them.

Let yourself make mistakes. Let yourself screw up. Let yourself say something stupid.  It happens.  We all fall victim to faults, missteps and misunderstandings.  You're not perfect, nobody is. It's okay to be wrong. It's okay to fail. We all do it.

Write. Write what you love, write what makes you feel alive, write because it's the only thing that makes sense.  You don't have to be a writer to put your thoughts from pen to paper. Start a journal, write when your angry, when your sad, when your happy. Write to clear your head. Just, write.

Read, even when all you want to do is binge watch your new TV obsession. Read to inspire, read to relax, read to remind you where you're headed.  Sometimes we need to escape to a fictional world to make sense of reality.

Have any inspiration for 2016? Let me know in the comments!                                                 ​

                                                       Never forget the essence of your spark!