Three Lessons to Bring to 2018
First of all, happy new year and hello 2018!!! :)
It's been a while since I've decided to sit down and start writing again so when's a better time to do so than on this fresh start of the new year? In recent years, I've actually become the type of person who enjoys doing the whole process of setting new year's resolutions and goals. I just get so excited and feel so motivated in doing them. Last year, I wrote some lines on my 2017 mantras in a new year's post, talking about having to figure out what I wanted to do & stop from waiting for life to happen to me. I still strongly believe in these things, but over the past year, I've come to learn a few more things that I'll be taking to heart with me this 2018...
De-motivation happens to the best of us, but this does not mean all your progress is gone
In the later half of 2017, I felt like I was in a slump. It was hard to keep motivated to do anything (including continuing to update this blog sadly). For the longest time, I always found the excuse to be "I didn't have enough time — life happened" or "I couldn't find the inspiration to do it". But lately, I came to realize that if I'd only work when inspiration hit me, then any work would hardly get done! Sure, inspiration surely boosts up the process, but that doesn't mean all that progress would be lost once that inspiration fades away. The days will never be as smooth as we want it to be with some nights filled with self-doubt, but this is something we have to learn to accept as a small bump in the road that we can overcome, rather than a roadblock that keeps us from going further. Maybe, the better, longer-lasting motivation would be constant reminders to myself why I wanted to pursue these goals in the first place. Going back to understanding why I choose to do these things should help bring me back on track!
Someone's happy may not be your happy and that's fine
This one has actually become ingrained in me throughout the year, since it was a lesson I brought with me in almost all kinds of situations. Since 2017 was a big year for self-expression (especially online), it brought about several strongly opinionated people along with it. It slowly began clear to me that happiness to anyone can mean a million different things and that who am I to say what should or shouldn't make them happy? Maybe for me, some things may seem mundane, but for another, it could be such an extraordinary thing! We all come from diverse backgrounds and we all experience things in our own way. Forcing our opinions on others' lives will never do any good to either party. (And frankly, there's a lot of other more productive things we could do with our time!) To put it simply: anyone should be able to do anything that makes them happy without fearing other people's judgment (as well as the fact that no one is being hurt in the process). Happiness is happiness in any form it may come in!
Positivity requires a conscious and constant effort but it always makes a huge impact
After taking some time to internalize these lessons recently, I came to see that it all came down to this: being negative about everything has become second nature to me. I can list off 5 things I dislike about myself right off the bat while it may take some time to name one that I absolutely love. It almost comes naturally to judge something that someone posts on social media just because it doesn't align to what I know (see 2nd lesson above haha). We tend to fall back to negativity because it is so easy to utilize it as an excuse. "Oh, I'll never be as successful as her, might as well not try" or "I'm too lazy/busy today, I'll do that tomorrow" (repeat again tomorrow) You get my point.
All this needs to be fought with positivity — which, on the other side of the coin, hardly comes naturally to us. It requires a conscious effort to take a look at the mirror and focus on how beautiful my smile is rather than how big my pores look. It takes a moment to commend someone for a job well done while it takes an instant to point out a shortcoming of theirs. The other day, I started to do this thing where I find something I adore about my friends and share it on social media. I found it so incredibly enjoyable to show appreciation and admiration to my friends (it feels so good, honestly, try it!) in which they were also so touched to hear. I guess what I'm trying to say is this: the tiniest act of positivity can have such a great impact. The smallest dip of positivity in a pool of negativity can actually make all the difference!
On that note, I think I'm ready to take on 2018 with my head and my hopes held high! Keep that ~positivity~ flowin :) What are lessons from the past year that you're bringing with you to 2018? I'd love to hear from you! Just leave me a comment below :)
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