To Resolve or Not to Resolve. . . That is the Question

It is 2012! Likely some of you are still sleeping off that glorious hangover, some of you may be eating dinner with your family (Pork and sauerkraut??), and some of you are setting up resolutions that you simply will not break this year. . . I have slept off last night's festivities and I have eaten pork and sauerkraut with my family, but I'm not making new years resolutions. . . not conventional, traditional ones anyway. . .

In the past I have made many a resolution and some of them have gone like this: I will diet (after I have approximately 31-ish days of a Farewell to Food), I will stop eating fried food (after I have finished an eat-a-thon of a variation of my favorite potato chips [for those curious minds- BBQ, Salt & Vinegar, and Mike Sells Sour Cream & Green Onion]) and had a few days to work on a pint of Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra, and I will exercise more (cut to three days straight on a treadmill and then me becoming . . . lazy.) Clearly my new years resolutions have a vicious cycle of  being about healthier eating and work out efforts and clearly they were abundantly successful.

I am sure there are many people out there who make resolutions and actually, ya know, keep them and to those rock stars. . . I salute you. I am just not someone that fits within those limitations.

So, here's the deal. . . as I say 'hello' to 2012 I am not vowing to eat better, eat less salty/fried foods, eat less Ben & Jerry's. . . I am not vowing to make myself work out more. But, as I say 'hello' to 2012 I will monitor what I eat. . . I will try to use portion control, I will try to eat what sounds good and not immediately ridicule myself for everything I put into my mouth. . . I will wake up in the mornings and do work outs with my mom, but if I sleep in one day I will not internally scream at myself for the remaining 24 hours.
As I say 'hello' to 2012 I will both realize and understand that simply because I would never fit into a "sample size" (on the chance I would ever be in a situation in which there are sample sizes available) does not mean I am not beautiful. As I say 'hello' to 2012 I will get to the point where I can look in the mirror and say at least one positive thing about what I see in my reflection and I will leave the house knowing that other people likely see those things, too. As I say 'hello' to 2012 I will reacquaint myself with my strengths and focus less on my weaknesses.

As I say 'hello' to 2012 I will make a resolution to know myself thoroughly and be okay with me and I will learn that the people I love are not going to handle every situation as I would, and that's not only okay. . . it's a whole new reason to adore them. In 2012 I want to make motions in starting a non profit with a dear friend, I want to make motions to turning this blog, my words, my ideas into a print that people can hold in their hands, in 2012 I will graduate college, get a good job and become a success. . . because I am worth that, I was created to be that, it is written on my heart. . . to be a success. In 2012 I will start and end everyday, and all the little moments in between, being true to myself, I will stop apologizing for things that are out of my control, I will make sure the people I love know just how much I love them, and I will . . . attempt. . . to recognize that my life has nothing to do with the time frame in which I wish things to happen and everything to do with the time frame in which He has written them to happen.

So, it's 2012. . . and I resolve to wake up everyday and simply love- I'll love the fact that I get another day to make a difference, I'll love the people who help shape the person I am, I'll love people I don't know, but deserve a smile, anyway, too, I'll love words and I will share that love with the world, and I will love myself.

Because I am worth that- receiving love from myself and from others. And guess what? So. Are. You.

It's 2012. . . What are your resolutions? What boundaries will you be breaking this year?

-Stephi D.