A List of 2014 Things I Love

Kidding.

Credit: Quoteskine

It happens every year, but I still feel the need to post about it: The “New Year” phenomenon. There’s something about having to write a new year on the date line of checks and essays that makes me feel like I’m right on the edge of a turning point. It is the hope of a fresh start.

I know that there really isn’t any difference between the 31st of December and the first of January. I understand that I shouldn’t need party poppers and champagne to motivate myself. I get all of that in theory, but I still get happy butterflies of excitement and unexplored potential when that ball drops and Ryan Seacrest wishes me a happy new year (does that man ever age?).

I don’t like to think of it as “New Year, New Me” because I know that’s not true. I prefer “New Year, New Chances for Me to Make Better Mistakes.”

Here are my two lists. One to sum up my last year and one to set up my new one.

Thirteen Things I Learned In 2013

1. You are never alone.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
3. Traveling alone is liberating.
4. Yoga is better for your soul than it is for your physical body.
5. You will laugh more if you put your phone down.
6. Oven-roasted vegetables are very important.
7. Cajun spices makes everything better (related to #6).
8. Money is a stupid construct and I hate the rat race.
9. Less is more, except when it comes to hugs and drinking water.
10. The mountains make me feel at home.
11. Never pass up an opportunity to pet a dog.
12. Every emotion is valid. Maybe not rational, but definitely valid.
13. Give more than you take.

Fourteen Hopes For 2014

1. Pay my rent early at least once.
2. Hug more people.
3. Pet more dogs.
4. Whine less.
5. Be less afraid to be goofy in public.
6. Stop telling people what to do.
7. Blog more!
8. Don’t set an alarm once a week.
9. Travel out of the country.
10. Actually step foot into the Rec.
11. Hit both my Dance Marathon and Camp Kesem fundraising goals.
12. Don’t overdraw my bank account even once.
13. Retain everything I learned in 2013.
14. Remember to “Be a best friend, tell the truth and overuse ‘I love you.'” (Thanks, Lee Brice)

Here’s to potential, motivation and sunflowers.
We all have the same amount of time in 2014 as Beyoncé.
Let’s get to work.

Remember this, kiddos.

“Less to do with pain/And more to do with beauty”

Sometimes (read: most of the time), the Internet opens up a door for you. Sometimes, it hurts. Sometimes, you can’t backtrack and walk back through that doorway, forgetting what you just stumbled upon. Sometimes, you won’t want to. The To This Day Project, sparked by …

Cleanse, refocus, reignite.

At night, right after I finally stop compulsively checking Twitter and Instagram and right before I attempt to lucid dream, I am filled with motivation.  I see the next day clearly: an early morning run, reorganizing my desk, scheduling interviews, backing up my hard-drive, calling my grandma just because, actually remembering to journal.

And then the next morning comes and I have overslept by 20 minutes and all my plans for self-improvement fly out the window. After all, getting to class on time is a bigger priority than an clean desk.

The kicker is: I need a clean desk. I need a clean desk and a long run and a long yoga practice and an updated planner. I definitely need to take care of the piles of dirty clothes on my desk chair and floor.

I have dug myself so deep into this “sit on the couch and talk to my friends about our problems and eat a bunch of chips and ignore fringe responsibilities” way of living. Not that it isn’t great…I love my friends and cultivating lifelong relationships with them. Truthfully (and surprisingly), I also love being busy. It might take me a second or two to drag my butt off the couch – but I love running from meeting to meeting, gym to home to class. It makes me very sure that I’m living my life to its fullest.

This is a long, rambling post simply to encourage myself, and you, to get off the couch. Clean out your desk of all those old papers you aren’t ever going to actually look at again. Go to a yoga practice and dedicate it to having a positive week. Don’t be afraid of back-to-back(-to-back) meetings. Get everything on your to-do list down before 9 p.m. Hang up inspirational quotes around your room and desk. Read Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

Go out and live your life. Bring your family, friends and loved ones with you.

It’s not going to wait for you.