Happy New Year!

And so we all make puzzled faces at one another as we question how another year sailed past so quickly. Just like that, we’re in 2016.

My New Year’s Resolutions (Placed on the Internet to Hold Me Accountable):

• Get my mental health up to scratch
• Ask for help when I need it
• Put more effort into the blog
• Learn that perfection isn’t achievable
• A few personal goals pertaining to soccer and competitions

The reason I’m posting this a week from the actual start of the year is because this is when I would usually give up on my resolutions, if I had made any in the first place. Too busy, too bored, too much effort, these have all been my excuses, and I’m guessing they’ve been yours at some point too. The fact that I’m posting means I haven’t fallen off the bandwagon yet – and I don’t plan to. 

In recent year’s I’ve held less and less value to New Year’s resolutions, believing them to be a waste of time when we all give up on them three weeks down the track. Just because we change the calendar doesn’t mean we’re all reborn, sort of thing.

But upon pondering, I think New Year’s resolutions embody something we all need to remember, all year round, and that is the power of a fresh start. The look and feel of a clean slate. Sure, I was disorganised last year, sure I didn’t exercise as much as I should have, I get it. But if the New Year symbolises anything it’s a new beginning, and ignoring the marketability of it all, and ignoring the exploitation and the undeniable cliche, I’m taking this new beginning and I’m running with it.

Too often, we get stuck in this rut in life – with our studies, our work, our health, our happiness – and we stay there and stew ourselves into a puddle of misery. Getting out of the rut and starting anew is daunting in the middle of June.

I think we should all feel like we can start afresh anytime, but I’ll just hop down off my unicorn and say that I understand that it’s scary. I understand that life is overwhelming and change is difficult, no matter how inevitable. Yes, New Year’s is filled with marketing gimmicks to con you into buying more kale, and the oppressive feelings of disappointment from society when you decide that kale isn’t really your thing. But if you need an excuse to start again, and we all do sometimes, a new year is the perfect opportunity.