New Years Mantras/BBirthday BBlog

I had a completely different post planned… actually not only did I have it planned, but I had it finished.

And then I had a spark of inspiration and I realized that I hated it…

So I started over.

Happy 2018 – you can start over too, if you want.

If you’ve followed my blog for at least a year now, you already know that I think New Years Resolutions are a literal crock of bullshit. However, if you’re the “New Year, New Me” type of person, I totally get it, and I honestly wish I was the same way. Maybe my brain is just wired a different way, but for some reason, instead of viewing the New Year as a fresh new start, I find myself, more than anything, feeling overwhelmed with nostalgia for the year that has ended, and for lack of a better explanation, I usually just end up feeling very sad. This could also explain why I cried every year on the last day of school from grades 1 through 6 (but I’m just going to blame that on the fact that they would play “Graduation” by Vitamin C over the announcement intercoms… and if that song doesn’t pull on your heart strings than I’m almost certain you never had a best friend… and if that’s the case please comment below and I’ll be your best friend, and then a year from now we will listen to that song together while basking in our bestfriendom, and YOU BETTER CRY WITH ME)… but I digress.

With all of that being said, I’m taking a new approach to this year, and instead of making New Years Resolutions, I’m going to try something that I’m calling New Years Mantras. Basically, instead of setting goals for specific THINGS that I want to accomplish, I want to set different mindsets, or mantras, that I want to live by. To start off 2018, my very first mantra is “Over Celebrate The Tiny Victories.”

This idea came to me a few days ago when I was talking to someone (a special someone) about a recent fitness accomplishment that I had. I told him how I was excited that I ran 3 miles in 26 minutes, and followed that by saying that I was sure he probably thought that was no big deal because he was a runner. I was a bit taken aback when he responded by basically telling me it WAS a big deal and that it IS something I should be proud of. It was then that I realized that this is something I do often, you know, selling myself short, or not thinking that my accomplishments matter as much as they do.

The worst part about this realization is that I think I am usually the FIRST to encourage and praise others when it comes to their accomplishments, even the smallest ones, so why have I not been doing the same for myself? I always try to point out when others have “tiny victories” – what’s that, you ask? Well, it can really be anything: going a whole day without eating candy, actually making your bed for once, running 2 days in a row, getting your winged eyeliner perfect on the first try, or maybe finishing that book you’ve been reading for the last 6 months (maybe that one is just me). You know, just things we usually don’t make a big deal of, but we’re still happy when we accomplish them. I want to start making these things a big deal! Now, I’m not saying throw a rager every time you remember to floss your teeth, but at the same time, life is too short not to appreciate yourself and the things you do to better your life, EVEN THE TINY THINGS, because these are the ones that build up into the big things AND THAT’S HOW CHANGE HAPPENS! So to say it again, my first New Years Mantra of 2018 is “Over Celebrate The Tiny Victories,” because honestly, I’m running out of reasons not to.