A Brand New Year

I wrote the following for my school’s monthly student/parent newsletter in December 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. At 23-years-old, these musings were the beginning of my writing career.

I will be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for sentimentality. I love celebrating holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and even friend-iversaries (the date you and a friend met, of course). That is why when New Year’s Eve rolls around every year, I’m always gung-ho for festivities.

New Year’s is thought of as a hyped up celebration with many expectations by most of my friends and family. The anticipation is not just of the night’s celebrations, however, but of a new and unknown future. Every New Year’s Eve is spent in a different way for me, whether that means with a few close friends and family members or at a big party. A few things are always the same, though. There is typically reminiscing of what an exciting, chaotic, and wonderful year it was. Some highlights of the past twelve months are mulled over before the big questions are asked: What will happen in the new year? How will we top this year? What are your resolutions?

With the impending countdown of the crowd is everyone’s chance to do those things they fell short on throughout the year. The resolutions start rolling out.

“I’ll exercise more in the future.”

“I will spend more time with the people I love in the future.”

“I will… in the future.”

The resolution itself seems to be beside the point. Many people announce that they will improve their lives in some way when the new year arrives; however, we shouldn’t need a day once a year to proclaim the need to be our best selves.

In reality, January 1st, 2013 will be just another day; there’s nothing really special about it. The Earth will continue to orbit the sun; the sun will rise once again and you will wake up to greet another magnificent day on Earth. That is the beauty of each new day: you are alive! You have a healthy body and mind, capable of anything you could ever wish for. So whether those New Year’s resolutions you make on January 1st last until 2014, or if you slip up and drop the ball before February, remember that each new day is a new beginning. You are alive, you are healthy, and you are surrounded by people who love you. That is reason enough for living your life to its fullest potential every day if ever there was one.