I look forward to every New Year. Not for the party on December 31st, which rarely is as exciting as they make it in the movies, and in my experience is often the exact opposite of the movies. I look forward to January 1st. It feels clean and new. It’s a new notebook, a fresh bar of soap, or just washed lavender-scented sheets. I feel renewed energy. I feel like a traveler ready to embark on a journey. Where do I want to go this year? How do I want to be? How do I want to feel? When I look back on the year, what joy will I get by re-visiting it?
I try to carve out a little time within the first week of the year and write my goals for the year. I don’t like to use the word “resolutions”. I stopped using that word a long time ago. I felt like the word was saying that my past actions were a failure and it was time to shape up and change things. I don’t like to look at my less successful adventures as failures. Successes, of course I’ll call successes; but failure, no, they are learning experiences. Truthfully, they are learning experiences. Don’t you always remember them clearly and think, “next time, I’ll do X”. You’ve learned.
So, what do you want to learn this year? What are your goals? What do you want to feel when you look back on the year?
To start you off, I want to share my do’s and don’ts for New Years Eve.
DO spend it with good friends and loved one’s.
DON’T assume that the guy you’ve just met in the bar and chosen to kiss at midnight is anywhere near your age or even over 21 for that matter.
DO make transportation plans if you plan to drink.
DON’T flirt with the bartender at your NYE party. If you start to flirt with him you’ll have to keep coming back to the bar to get another drink just to see him again and before you know it you’ll be cross-eyed and you won’t recognize him when you go on a date three weeks later.
DO remember it’s just one night and that the fate of your entire year doesn’t rest on what you do that evening.
DON’T do drugs. There are a lot of reasons why this is bad but two reasons are that 1) no one else at the party is high and you’ll start to feel a little awkward and paranoid and (2) that girl at the party who chose to get a nice holiday glow may start to look like a munchkin from the Wizard of Oz.
DO kiss someone. It doesn’t matter if it’s your best friend or mom or niece. Show people you care about them. Even if you’re feeling awkward because you’re alone at the party, a good friend (see DO #1) will make sure you feel loved.
Happy New Year!
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