New Year’s Hope

I have always loved the holiday season; the time with family, the happiness, the good food.  But the New Year’s Eve celebrations have never really panned out and I’ve never been a big fan of that night, anyway.  I do, however, enjoy the feeling of hope that seems to be in the air in the beginning of January.

So, it’s 2013 and I like that sense of optimism that everyone wants to start the New Year with.  You have people flocking to the gym in herds, being nicer to each other, and trying to eat healthier.  Sound great for everyone involved??  I think so, too, that’s why it makes me wonder why it takes the turn of the calendar to bring all this positivity out.  Why can’t we make a resolution to be more positive at the beginning of every day or every week?

Setting goals and intentions really should be more common than once a year.

While the hopefulness a new year brings is great, I think we fail to look at the little things.  The little things and focusing on our daily lives will bring the prosperity and happiness we’re all looking for.  We should think about what we want to do now and who we want to be today, not what we hope to be in a couple months, or how we picture ourselves being by mid-year.  We can’t control three months from now unless we control today and every day, as it comes.

It’s difficult to promise to yourself that you’ll make new habits that’ll last a lifetime but promising to do something for a day, every morning, is a lot easier.  We should resolutely decide to be our best every day and always try to do the next right thing.  Take every day and learn from it, then resolve to try again.  Because it seems to me that is the best we can do.

 

That being said, I wanted to share my resolutions (though the list grows throughout the year) :

Focus on respecting different perspectives

Taking a positive approach to every day

Running a half marathon in the summer (starting training in January)

Begin work on the book I want to publish.  I want to set weekly goals to get this done.

Trying not to second guess myself

Mt. Katahdin,again, in the summer (continuing a yearly thing)

Really teach myself to play the piano (again, week by week)

 

I hope that your hopefulness for the New Year lasts the whole year through.

Danielle Clark

About Danielle Clark

I am 28 years old and for 5 years out of college I played basketball for a living. I was a professional basketball player in Europe so I spent most of my years there and came back to Maine for summers and a couple weeks at Christmas time. I thought my years there would open my eyes to what I want to be when I "grow up." That didn't happen. I have discovered, however, that I just have to try something. Just do things and toss myself into them. I have currently tossed myself into being a college basketball assistant coach and one on one reading tutor. I grew up in Corinna, Maine and have been a resident Mainer. I love sports, reading, writing, cooking, baking, watching movies... everything. I have lots of hobbies and not enough time in the day!