I’ve gone through a lot this year. College in general is a whirlwind of emotions, as it is a major transitional point in a person’s life where they are trying to juggle several things at once while also finding themself as a person. The main thing that I’ve realized this year is that I am responsible for choosing my own story. While it is true that life tends to throw things at you, at the end of the day, making good choices and having a positive outlook on life are both key to enjoying life to the max.
One thing I’ve realized about myself this year is that I don’t express my gratitude for people enough. The people closest to me are the people I treasure the most, and I pride myself in being a very loyal friend to those I care about. Because of this, I’ve made the resolution to compliment people more, and on more than just their appearance. While it’s easy to simply say to a friend “I love your hair today,” or “I really like those jeans,” I believe it means so much more to compliment someone on their personality, such as their genuine kindheartedness or upmost dedication to the things they care about. It’s so important to build each other up and cultivate kindness in a world that may not always seem so kind.
While I want to use my resolutions to build up the people I love more, I also would like to use them to build myself more! That’s why I’m going to start journaling in a way I’ve never before in 2025. When I used to journal back in high school, I simply ranted and raved about the things that were going wrong in my life, and didn’t really look at life with a positive outlook. This time, I’m going to make it my mission to name one good thing about my day and one good thing I love about myself. Maybe it’s just because I’m a Leo, but I’ve noticed that I feel so much better when I look at myself and name something I love. This significantly increases my confidence and brings such a brighter outlook to my day.
Maybe it’s just because I’m writing this right after Thanksgiving Break, but I’ve noticed lately just how much I appreciate my family, specifically my sisters. I have two younger sisters, aged 14 and 17, and while we fight like hell sometimes, they are truly some of the brightest parts of my life, and I am eternally grateful for them. That’s where we get my final New Years Resolution: to call my sisters more. They are both going through crazy periods of their life, my youngest sister is still navigating her way through starting high school, which is one of the craziest points of someones life, and the older one is ending her high school career and making her college decisions. While I don’t find myself to be the perfect role model for them by any means, I do want to be there for them, as I’ve gone through the same things they are going through right now.
Life is so beautiful, and it can be hard to see that unless you truly take initiative to live it to the fullest through kindness and love. In 2025, that’s what I’ll be doing, and I know I am going to slowly but surely evolve into the best version possible of myself.