By Annalise Shupe
The holidays have passed and the new year is upon us. Most of you are welcoming 2018 by drinking your coffee and reading your local Journal to stay updated with what’s going on in your community. Well I’m going to twist that around and ask you; what’s going on in your life? More importantly, what is in your heart?
Many people view the beginning of a new year as a fresh start, a time to design a new self. Most people create New Year’s resolutions as a way of doing this. Well, what’s your New Year’s resolution? Will you stick to it? How long have you been thinking about your resolution? How long have you been putting it off and saying you’ll start next week?
Here are some common resolutions; to lose weight, exercise more, quit smoking/drinking, get a new job, save money and/or get out of debt, eat healthier, organize, travel, improve mentality and relationships, get better sleep, give to charity, and learn a new language. Have any of these ever been your New Year’s resolution? If so, did you complete it? Now, this one can be tricky; were you satisfied?
Some of you may be reading this and are thinking to yourself, “I’ve never had a New Year’s resolution.” If this is you, we’re in the same boat. I don’t think I’ve ever had a New Year’s resolution. Honestly, I find the whole thing kind of silly. If I have something I want to change in my life, I just do it. I don’t wait for a special occasion hoping I’ll have more motivation.
Motivation can be a hard thing to attain. In my experience, people tend to have the most motivation to do something the moment they know they want to do it. The motivation then tends to build if they feed it and start working towards their goal, but the motivation tends to dwindle and die out if they sit idle on the situation.
A common saying that tends to go hand-in-hand with the coming of a new year is, “New Year, new me.” You can probably assume now that I don’t really agree with this phrase. I believe any time is the perfect time to make positive changes within yourself. And let’s face it, we’re constantly changing anyway! None of us are the same people we were 10 years ago, or even two years ago!
I’m going to bring us back to one of my first questions; what is in your heart? Don’t give up on me yet; this still pertains to New Year’s resolutions. For some of you, this is the easiest question I’ve asked, others, it’s the most challenging. I ask this because of the topic: shouldn’t we do most things in life because of what is in our hearts? Shouldn’t we only change ourselves if we want to better ourselves and not because others think we need to change? Because really, New Year’s resolutions are a bandwagon thing.
In 2018 I challenge you to ask yourself; what is in your heart? What do you desire most to do? What kind of person do you want to be like? How do you want to feel? How do you want to make others feel? How can you better yourself?
So tell me, what is in your heart?
Annalise Shupe is a student at Fillmore Central High School. She is one of seven area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 19th year.
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