New Year's Resolutions are not for me
As we enter into 2016, there are a lot of big things headed my way.
This year, I get to marry the love of my life. I'll change my last name. And I'm sure I'll make memories to last a lifetime.
But if there is one thing I know about myself, it's that I will never make a "new year's resolution."
Would I like to be 20 lbs skinnier? Absolutely. Is it a good idea for me to drink more water than the Diet Mountain Dew that pumps through my veins? Yes. Should I spend more time walking, enjoying the outdoors, and taking care of myself? You bet.
Will I make any of these my New Year's resolution? No, I won't and I'll tell you why.
I've never been good at keeping resolutions.
I used to sit down at the end of every year and write out what I wanted to accomplish in the upcoming year, and always found myself looking at that list well into the spring and realizing I hadn't done anything on it and always felt like I'd failed for the year when it was only March.
So my junior year of college, instead of making a list of resolutions and feeling bad when I didn't complete them, I wrote a bucket list.
I filled it with as many things that I could think of wanting to do before I die. And every year, I've added to that bucket list.
Why a bucket list? Because there isn't a timeline, really. These are all things I would love to do. Things I want to experience in my LIFETIME, not just in a year.
I've had a great time marking them off as they happen and adding new ones as the thoughts come along.
Since 2011, I've gotten a tattoo, adopted a soldier, cut my hair off, dyed my hair blonde, lived far away, been an Indianapolis 500 Festival Princess, bought my own home, rescued an animal (or five), became active in an organization, built a blanket fort and traveled to Washington D.C., just to name a few.
There are still a ton on my list to mark off, like riding in a limo, having a family, skydiving, seeing Tuscany, Italy, going on a hot air balloon ride, making a difference, actually feel like an adult (this whole adult thing really doesn't make sense to me, who let me be an adult anyway?), see Pentatonix in concert, and so much more.
For me, a bucket list has been better than any resolution I could make. It's given me something to look forward to and left me without the guilt of a few pounds still chillin' around my middle.
Will my health take a back seat this year? Probably not. But you can be certain, I'm going to spend more time living life and working on that bucket list than I'm going to spend worrying about the number on my bathroom scale.
Jessica is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. She can be reached at jessicadtharp@gmail.com.
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