My New Year’s Resolutions 2024.
As I stood, gyrating to the beat of the disco music at Paddy’s bar on New Year’s Eve, midnight was fast approaching. Before I knew, it the friendly and attractive D.J. was counting down. At long last, 2024 had arrived.
This year holds so much promise for me. I truly and honestly believe that it will be one of the best years of my life. Already, so many good things are in the works. I am flying up to San Francisco with my dad in May, and we are taking a family vacation in Hawaii in June. I also am looking forward to visiting my alma mater Occidental in February with some of my best friends, and celebrating my 32nd birthday later on this spring.
Every year, I set resolutions for myself, and this year is no exception. But this time is different because all three of my big goals for this year were initiated in 2023. It is easy to predict that one will achieve their dreams if they know exactly what it will entail to make these dreams a reality, which I most certainly do.
My first resolution is to become more physically fit. For those of you who do not know, over a year ago my grandma Melinda encouraged me to join a Zumba class at our local 24 Hour Fitness. We go together every Monday. I truly feel that each and every session is better than the last. My growth in class has been exponential since I first decided to join. In addition, my dad has taken to working out with me twice a week. Under his tutelage, the weights I am using have increased, and the repetitions have also gone up.
My second goal is to practice mindfulness at least once a day. When I was a child, my mother always meditated, but I was frequently skeptical as to the effectiveness of this particular technique. It wasn’t until my psychiatrist recommended the app Calm a few months ago that I truly was able to experience the power of voluntarily clearing one’s mind. I have become an addict. Luckily for me, a new meditation is released on the app every single day. My ultimate goal is to graduate from doing fifteen-minute meditations, and transition on to practicing mindfulness for up to one hour. During this process, I have discovered that it is easy to enjoy something that you are proficient at.
You all know my third resolution: to continue to work on my future novel, Parapenda. It is my ultimate bucket list item to become a published author. For Christmas, my parents thoughtfully gifted me a book titled The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published. I have recently been outlining potential chapters for my book, and populating character profiles. This process has been incredibly rewarding so far, and I am very excited to see where all this preparation will take me in 2024.
To conclude, I truly feel that every new year is firstly an opportunity for a fresh start, and secondly a chance to do even better than you may have done the year prior. I would be very curious to see the various resolutions you all may have. If you believe it is appropriate, please feel free to let me know some of your plans for this year in the comments. Setting goals and then achieving them is very rewarding for me, as I am sure it also is for you all. Happy 2024!