A New Year's resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life. As the year comes to a close we begin to reflect on the things we've experienced over the past 12 months. For me 2018 was filled with a lot of highs, lows, and everything in between. I began the new year hanging out with my childhood friends. It had been almost 5 months since I've seen any of them and it warmed my heart to see them again. Then I flew across the country again and went back home but took a quick pit stop in the mountains to see some snow. A group of my friends and a fellow frat rented a cabin in Big Bear and spent a couple days relaxing, partying, and more partying. As we traveled back to school we took our time and enjoyed golden hour and a trip to a country bar and line danced with some hunnies (hehe). Being back at school was nice. The first couple weeks of the semester are pretty easy which means that there's more times for crazy things like getting a lip tat :) Soon it was time to celebrate Muffins. A national holiday at my school where we wake up at 5am on a Sunday and sip mimosas and stuff our faces with muffins hehe. Everyone wears brunch attire and parties until around 12pm. One of my favorite memories from 2018 came from the month of March when I attended my first rave with my best friends. Up until this point the only EDM music I had really heard was the music that my friends played while we got ready to go out. I didn't really know what to expect but it was probably one of the best music performances I have ever been to. The lights and visuals were amazing and it was almost impossible not to get lost in the lights. I'm not really one for crowds but everyone there was really warm welcoming. I met a lot of different people and exchanged candy bracelets. If you ever have the chance to go to rave I would say go for it! In April I spent my spring break in Lake Havasu Arizona. We stayed at a resort with over a hundred other college students. We went boating, chilled on the lake and watched performances form Madeintyko and Boombox Cartel. It was definitely a week to remember. And soon it was the end of my freshman year and I was saying goodbye to my best friends. I spent the summer in my new home in Arizona and I can admit it was pretty tough. Although I was able to spend more time with my family, I didn't have any friends to hang out with and I was working 35+ hours at a job that I hated. I tried to make the best of it though but this definity was not one of my favorite parts of 2018. Some of my friends visited me for a couple days and that really lifted my spirit. I ended the summer on a high note and traveled back to California to attend a music festival. Although it was very hot, I got to see some of my favorite artist like Louis the Child, Troyboi, and Zeds Dead. And like clockwork and flew to the east coast to spend a couple weeks in my old hometown. I got to vist my friend Haley at college and spent a week at the beach with my guy friends. Then it was time to go back to school for my 2nd year. The beginning was spent tailgating at football games, recruiting girls for my sorority, and going to the beach of course. Later in the semester I got an on campus job, I welcomed my little sorority sisters into my family, celebrated halloween for four days straight (haha), turned 19, and had to say goodbye to one of my best friends and she left to study abroad. 2018 was a very challenging year for me. I struggled with a lot of insecurities and focused a lot of my time on things I couldn't control. It was definitely a year of introspection. Analyzing myself as a person, and my current life, and my future hopes and dreams. There are a lot of things I wish I could have done better but looking back I know they were supposed to happen because I learned from them. I made a list of resolutions that are based on these things so that I can take the things I learned into the new year. Some people think that resolutions are stupid but I see resolutions as a way to improve your year. You take all the things you didn't like about the last year and actively make ways to combat them so that the upcoming year is better 2019 New Years resolutions
xoxo
Heavkinz
0 Comments
Recently my mind has been thinking about the "big picture". And when I say this I mean that recently I have been kind of unhappy with how my present life is going so I've been focusing a lot of thinking on the future, mine in particular. The other day I was listening to the song "Flowers in Your hair" by the Lumineers and it talks about the stages of life. Being young and naive and then slowly starting to grow up and experience pain and heartbreak. As humans we go through stages of life. First we're born, then we go through elementary school and we're curious about the world. We wonder why the sky is blue, why dogs have four legs, and why we can't eat ice cream for every single meal. Then we enter middle school and our bodies start to change. We wonder is this normal, is my body attractive enough, will these pimples ever go away. When we reach high school we start explore new things. We kiss each other, and sneak out, and push the limits. We're starting to grow into a new shoes and get used to harder classes, and learning to drive, and getting our first jobs. I feel like for the most part everything up until that point in your life everything is planned out. Yes you have options but for the most part they all lead to the same place; graduation.
But the thing is, after graduation they're aren't really anymore "steps". Some people go to college, some people jump right into the workforce, and some people just fade away. After this point there are so many options to life and for some people, like me, this is really overwhelming. Before I graduated, I chose the path of college, another four years of learning and honestly, another four years of being a kid. The thought of jumping right into the workforce terrified me and I admire anyone that did/does that. Two years ago I was accepted into my dream school in the perfect city. I was excited for the life I was about to live and the opportunities I was about to experience. Flashforward to today and I'm sophomore going into my fourth semester as a college student. I have a good gpa, I'm on an executive position in my sorority, I have great friends and all I can think about is what is going to happen next. I'm finally at the place I dreamed of before and now I feel like I'm wishing it away. Instead of focusing on the good things that I've accomplished and the things that I have, I instead find the smallest insecurities and focus my whole hearted attention on them. Because of this, part of me wants to skip through my life to the part where I have a stable career, stable finances, and a stable relationship. But the other part of me knows that that's not true. There are still things I want to experience before I "have it all together". Like studying abroad, my 21st birthday, buying my first car, owning my first best, renting my first house etc etc. And besides, when you think about it, you'll never truly have it all together. There's always going to be something around the corner to through you for a loop. That's just how life is. So this is a reminder to myself to wish for the present. Wish for good things now. Wish for a happy heart now. Wish for a healthy mind now. And by the time the future comes you won't need anymore wishing. In high school I wrote my senior research paper on happiness. In my paper I researched the common age old question "Does money by you happiness?". What I learned was yes it did, but only up to a certain extent. It's more about what your spend your money on. People who don't have their immediate needs taken care of (food, shelter, clothing) are less likely to be happy but that doesn't mean that people without these things can't be happy. The Amish for example live their lives completely different from society and don't depend on things like electronics or money. But when surveyed there happiness didn't seem to be any less than the average American.
One thing I took away from my paper is that your specific spending habits can affect happiness. You're more likely to be happier spending your money on experiences rather than tangible items. For example, if you buy a new car your immediately very happy and excited. Its all you can talk about, you show all your friends, you take it out for a spin all the time. But slowly and slowly your happiness fades has you own the car for longer and longer. Suddenly it's just that boring car that you drive. On the other hand lets say you spend your money on a trip to the Bahamas. You buy your tickets and you're super excited. It's all you can't talk about the week leading up to the trip. Then it's finally time for the trip and you're still excited. Then even after the trip you're still happy because you have those memories that you can keep with you forever. Recently I've been struggling with lack of motivation. I've been waking up really groggy and not looking forward to my day. Part of it has to do with me getting over my case of pneumonia which left me feeling fatigued for weeks. So I've started planning little tasks for me to everyday. I remembered from my senior paper that people get excited and happy in the anticipation of things. I started getting back into horoscopes. I won't say that I'm a firm believing in the placement of the stars and planets but it's definitely something I want to learn more about (and hopefully do a blog post on). And don't worry I'm not the type to unfriend you if we have incompatible signs (haha). Now I have two daily horoscope apps on my phone and I look forward to reading them in the morning. Sometimes I take their advice with a grain of salt but other days I truly feel like they are spot on. And they motivate me everyday to look out for certain things that normally I wouldn't pay attention to. I've also been participating in a 30 day song challenge using my Instagram stories. Every day there's a theme like "pick a song that makes you want to dance" and then you post it on your story. I do this in the morning as well and I definitely think it has a positive effect on my day. I love music and it gives me a chance to go through my music library and really find songs that are important to me. I probably bet that most people skip over my story but it makes me happy so that all that matters. These are just a couple things that help me get up in the morning and start my day on a more positive note. If you're going through a slump and dreading waking up in the morning for whatever reason, find something that you can do daily that will make you excited for another day. If you're not into horoscopes then maybe download a daily devotional if you're religious or find a daily blog that you really like, or do an instagram challenge like me. Set goals for yourself. If not everyday than every week. They can be big or small. My current goal is to be creative at least once a day whether that's drawing, writing, or taking photos. Goal setting is another way to make you excited for what's to come. To make you excited for another day. Money can't buy you happiness but you can create it. xoxo Heaven |
Author:Straight from my mind to yours. Quote of the Month:Destroy the thoughts, not yourself Archives
January 2019
|