Hi Allison,
It's January 4th now. If I don't write these down now, I probably never will. I've just accepted that this space is probably just something for the two of us now, but that's cool. Just another medium for us to express our obsessions with life and Jesus and hot dogs and each other and friendship.
So here are my resolutions, goals, ambitions, etc. whatever we'd like to call them, for 2015. 2014 was honestly the most amazing year of my life for so many reasons, but I want 2015 to be the year when I'm really intentional with becoming a better person and to continue pushing my life in the way I'd like it to go.
Let's get into it, shall we?
Be healthier. Obviously. Is it even a new year if you don't make a goal to at least be a little bit healthier? Now I'm not trying to set any drastic goals like run an Iron Man (let's not even talk about how patriarchal that is) or lose 500 lbs. or anything. I'm just talking about working to make small changes that help me to live a healthier lifestyle. (I want to punch myself in the face for saying "healthier lifestyle" probably just as much as you do right now. Sorry.) Whether that means going on walks more or actually eating a salad once in a while or getting back into running, I just want to be able to look back at myself at the end of this year and say, "Yeah, I'm for sure moving in the right direction on this whole health thing." Because I want to be able to explore the world and have dance parties forever, so if not now, when? This is my prime. I should act like it.
Be present. This really comes from a mindset of me thinking that I want to be more of who I was when I was abroad. When I studied abroad, I told myself, "Say yes to everything. Take advantage of everything. You'll never have an opportunity like this again." And those are all true things. Life was amazing because I was so thirsty for adventure and wanted to be fearless and just absorb everything. But isn't that true about life in general? We should be saying yes to everything. Taking advantage of everything. We'll never have another opportunity to be young, be in college, have this time to explore, etc. so we should take every day as if we're determined to squeeze as much out of it as possible. Why is it that when I was in London I'd feel guilty if I slept too long and I never wanted to spend too much time on Netflix because I just wanted to live this life, but when I'm in America I'm 100% fine with sleeping my weekend away? I just want to have the same adventurous spirit and hunger for life that I did then.
Appreciate things. This ties into the whole "being present" thing. Whether it's being more appreciative of the people around me or being more mindful of having a grateful spirit to start each day, I don't want to take anything for granted this year or ever again. I want to be intentional when it comes to seeking the positive things out of every situation and appreciating things for exactly how much joy they bring me.
Be more creative. I want to read more, do more, cook more, explore more, create more things. I want to try new things and really explore my creative side. This kind of goes hand in hand with two other resolutions that I have. One being to stop being such a mindless, technology obsessed potato. Less Netflix. Less computer. Less social media and texting. More conversations and reading and becoming a better member of society. Second one being use my time better. I want to stop wasting time on mindless things and use time to my advantage to grow as a person.
Make this year about Jesus. I want to fall more in love with Jesus every day. When I'm abroad, when I'm traveling, I always see God in everything. I'm constantly feeling overwhelmed by His beauty and His love for us. Somehow, that seems to slip my mind more often when I get into a gross routine of school and work and being exhausted and homework and whatever. I want to make Jesus the priority again. I want to be constantly caught up in wonder at who He is and the fact that He chose to love me. I want to daily sit at His feet and be constantly seeking His plan for my life instead of my own. I want to hold His hand as I walk through this life and learn everything about Him and this world that He has to teach me. This is the year for #RachelAndJesus (which btw will always come before #RachelAndNiall).
Document things more. I want to write more things now and be more conscious of memories. Sometimes it saddens me when I think about all the good things that happened in 2014 that I didn't write about. Nothing makes me happier than reflecting back upon little moments that brought me joy and what I wrote immediately after I felt them or looking back and seeing a small thing that I was thankful for seven years ago and immediately being reminded of happy memories or finding a little polaroid or a note in an old purse and just being overwhelmed with joy. I want to document this amazing life I'm living. And not just on Instagram.
C'mon 2015, let's do this.
