New Year's Resolution

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Happy New Year everybody! I know I'm about a day late on that. Work has been consuming most of my days; but my last day is tomorrow!!!

My New Year's Eve was spent in with my family, cooking food and watching the ball drop on TV. The food was fantastic and carb-loaded and the company was more than entertaining--my brother actually spent the evening watching a documentary about Africa and came into the room once in awhile to tell us something he had seen. Next year I think I want to go out though. I love staying in, but I also love the idea of going somewhere different to celebrate.

Anyway, the new year is all about the new resolutions that we all have, giving us something to work toward for the next 365 days. However, the resolutions we all have may have become less and less original. Raise your hand if last year you promised to eat healthier and workout more...I'm included in that group myself. While I did do quite well with it, I still don't feel like I've accomplished anything. This year I am going to make my resolution a little less specific, but also a lot more meaningful to me. This time around my New Year's resolution is to be the best me that I can be and not worry so much. While this does seem general I believe that knowing this is my promise to myself will prompt me to stop and think about my actions and really decided whether or not it's really best for me.

Happy New Year, and here's to finding success in our new resolutions!

<3 Ashley

What is your New Year's resolution?

Promise?

It's that time of year again....December 31. New Year's Eve. Made your resolutions yet? What are resolutions? They are the promises we make ourselves (and maybe secretly others) at the end of every year to better our lives the following year. However, they do not always stick as we have found out year after year. We have a white hot, new gym membership January 2nd that gets thrown aside by February 2nd. I find that we set the same goals for ourselves every year: general, a little far-reaching, and, if I do say so, a bit generic.

There is nothing I want more than to go a year with at least one of my resolutions still intact. So here's my idea for a fix: No more of "cut out junk food" or "go to the gym every other day" because let's be real...neither of those is going to stick very long with me. The awful truth is that as much as we want to say we do, our will power is not that strong. So instead of asserting these powerful promises tonight I will still make the generic resolutions, but not treat them as the end-all-be-all of my 2013 lifestyle. Baby steps will be my method.

Instead of completely cutting out junk food, I will set guidelines. I will taper off and hopefully by summer I will only have one day when I treat myself to a sugar-y sweet. Instead of going straight for the equipment at the gym, I will start small with an easier workout routine that I can do in my dorm until I am comfortable shedding the sweatpants for running shorts in the outside world.

In my view, the resolution a goal that you should work towards during the year, not something that you are going to force yourself to do. That's my thought at least. I am excited to hear what all of your resolutions are going to be for this coming year. Here are mine:

- Put more effort in a healthy lifestyle
- Try to put myself in someone else's shoes to understand them a little better
- Really try to discover what I want out of life (no, I still have not figured this out yet)

Those are just a few. I might think of some more at work...I do a lot of my thinking there ;)

<3 Ashley

What are some of your New Year's resolutions?