Welcome to 2015, Tar Heels. It’s a new year, so break out those gym membership cards and throw some kale in a pot because it’s resolution time.
I thought about using this column to poke fun at overused resolutions with sarcastic tips on how to accomplish them. Instead, I’d like to take this opportunity to brainstorm actual ways to make this year better in ways those resolutions never could.
Each year, many of us look back and think about our accomplishments, consider our relationships and wonder what we could do to be better. We resolve to stop eating so many carbs and to read books we’ve bought but have never seen the insides of. Eventually, when life gets in the way, these resolutions fall to the wayside. This might be my youthful idealism talking, but I still believe there are small things you can do to make this year better than the last.
Choose your battles. The ones you fight should feel the most important to you. There are lots of people on campus already fighting for what they believe in. To you, I say: Keep looking up and staring those struggles in the face.
Be nicer to yourself. Get that awesome haircut that you’ve been scared to try but you know will make you feel like the fashionista you were in 10th grade when you had time to read Teen Vogue. Eat a little less bread and a little more green stuff. Stare at your body in the mirror and say, “Hey! I like you! You look good to me, and I’m going to dress you in gem tones because they’re flattering on every skin tone!”
Make resolutions you can keep. If it’s something you look forward to and are capable of accomplishing, you will be much more likely to do it. Resolutions like “laugh louder,” “listen more intently” and “call your grandparents” are much more attainable than my three-day attempt at a paleo diet.
Live your own adventure. Take this phrase and apply it only to yourself and your life. For some, that might mean gallivanting off to Thailand this summer to explore some newness. For others, adventure might look more like doing better things with your free time, like going outside more or watching documentaries on Netflix instead of all seven seasons of “30 Rock” for the fourth time.
With months that drag by, weeks that seem listless and days that appear meaningless, our resolutions can easily lose meaning. But make your time mean more — especially those of us whose time on this brick-laid campus is rapidly disappearing.
Throw a mental party every minute. Begin an adventure every hour. Celebrate yourself every day. And make 2015 ring louder than years past.
