[this was written as a New Years post but it got lost. So here it is half way through the year to remind us all about those things we promised ourselves to change during this year.]
I have done a lot of thinking the last few days. I took some time to really reflect on my life in 2012 and come up with ways to make it better in 2013. I want to change some things in my life because I want to improve the lives of those around me and that means sacrifice. Some of the changes that I'm making might not be forever and some may turn into forever but its my life and voted on these changes.
1. Peace out Facebook. I have really become less and less of a fan over the last year and this year I cut ties with the alternate life. It's a wise professional decision for me but I also don't have time for it. I deleted the app months ago from my phone and I haven't missed it. I honestly don't want to spend minutes (aka hours) looking at other people's lives via social media. It's a pointless waste of time. So I'm cutting ties with no plan on ever coming back (and if I do...don't judge). If you get engaged, get a new puppy or do something cool and wanna tell me personally, I will jump up and down with you. But I'm not gonna read about it and look and hundreds of pictures on your wall or his wall anymore.
2. Goodbye high school clothes. I cleaned out my closet and officially said goodbye to all things Hollister and such. I had to clean it out partially because I had too many clothes in general but also because that stage of my life is over and I need to get ready to dress the part for my next stage in life. So I packed up all my high school and middle school clothes (basically the same stuff) and took it to some of my favorite girlies who are loving them just as much as I did!
3. Friends. I had to let some go over the last year and looking back I can see it has made me a much more positive person. I am a very loyal person so letting go is hard. We all fight with friends but sometimes people are only in your life for a season, and I need to let things stay that way. So this year I'm building so many new ones and I'm loving the fresh start! I also love continuing on friendships that I've had for years or decades :)
4. Clean. I'm embracing the clean lifestyle. If you know me, you know I'm organized and a neat freak. But this year I'm getting back to my roots of a clean diet and lifestyle all around. No more of this college living crap. I'm working out harder and eating incredibly clean these days. One thing I'm doing is giving up one thing I love for one month. So I picked 12 foods that I love or am tempted to eat too much of and for one month I won't touch it. After that month I'll be able to eat it again but this is to break habits and remind me I don't really need it.
5. Travel constantly. I'm packing my bags in about two months and heading to Europe for my last placement and semester of student teaching. This is one of my many ways I hope to travel this year. I want to constantly be traveling by reading books from all over the world on culture and lifestyles and languages and even some good fiction stories. I love to read and this year I'm attempting 52 in 52. Aka 52 books for 52 weeks of the year.
So these are just some of my working yearly commitments. Other ones are more personal and since I don't have Facebook you won't know about them now;) just kidding. But really- you won't because I'm not posting about them.
I hope you all take time to not only try to make your life better this year but the lives of others around you.
[Reflection: I'm not doing that bad. I picked realistic aspects of my life that I wanted to change and focus on. I'm still off Facebook and don't miss it one single day. I love all my professional clothes and get way more compliments on my style. I'm eating clean and training harder. And I've done my fair share of traveling around the world physically and through books. So how are you doing?]
