5 EASY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS & 5 (okay, 6) GREAT NEW YEAR'S QUOTES

Be always at war with your vices,
at peace with your neighbors,
and let each new year find you a better man.
-Benjamin Franklin

1. Spend at least 20 minutes every day alone with no contact to the outside world (turn off phone, tv, internet...) and do something I enjoy... read, sketch, write.
Sometimes my life gets so hectic that when it's finally time for me to unwind, I do something incredibly unsatisfying (i.e. Watch TV until I fall asleep)

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.
-Hamilton Wright Mabie

2. Take a Picture of Myself Every Day
This may sound super self-centered, but I think it's a great exercise. DailyBooth, introduced to me by the lovely Grace Ellen, allows such a service for free. It's amazing to see your progression over the course of a year, and a snapshot is a great way to keep a photo journal as well. Checking out the 'live feed' is kind of inspiring. Plus, is there a better way to amp up self acceptance than this?!

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past.
Let it go, for it was imperfect,
and thank God that it can go.
-Brooks Atkinson

3. Try 1 new thing every day.
Unless you have a lot of money, this has got to stay simple. Maybe it will be a new food, a new outfit, a new lipstick color, a new vocab word, a new website, a new song. I think I'm going to try to keep track of this one in my journal. What did a little extra culture ever hurt anyone, right?

I do think New Year's resolutions can't technically be expected to begin on New Year's Day, don't you? Since, because it's an extension of New Year's Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system. Also dieting on New Year's Day isn't a good idea as you can't eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary,

moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover.
I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second.
-Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

4. Take more deep breaths.

My road rage is OUT OF CONTROL. I've recently noticed that if I just take a moment, slow down, and breathe (or belt out whatever song happens to be at full blast in my car) I feel significantly less of a need to lay on my horn. I'm hoping that I can apply this to more of my life and slow down a little... What's the rush?!

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this:
To rise above the little things.
-John Burroughs

5. Be Silly
My first love taught me one important thing: how to act like a little kid. Take in beauty, sing at the top of my lungs, giggle, enjoy. Life is precious, and if I'm always acting like an adult, I'm missing out. It's time to bring back the 5-year-old. :)



And, finally... remember to have a New Year's Eve that makes everything you're giving up on the 1st worth it!:

It wouldn't be New Year's if I didn't have regrets. -William Thomas