Every December, I begin to think about New Year’s Resolutions. I usually find myself at a bit of a cross roads: I never stick to my resolutions, but I want to improve myself and new year’s resolutions seem like a good way to do so. I tell myself this year will be different than last– this will be the year that I will stick with it. And, sometimes I do well. Last year, I pledged to live healthier and I stuck to it for a large majority of the year. I aspire to get back to the mindset I had, as it was such a healthy and happy state of being.
Other years, my resolutions have sent me down paths of disaster. My freshman fall at Georgetown, I struggled and it showed in my grades. I had always worked hard and had my hard work pay off, but it seemed things would be different in college. I would need to work harder. Ever the planner, I resolved to improve my life in all areas and I made a literal life plan for myself, with goals for each day, each week, each month, each semester, and each year for the next three and a half years planned out. These goals included health, academics, extracurriculars, professional development, and social. This life plan did not work out too great, as life did not want to stick to my plan and soon, everything was out of place. I was devastated and after a few tearful meltdowns, I gave up the life plan.
This year, as I think about what my resolution should be or if I should even make any, I keep coming back to one thought. My 2018 was incredible because nothing went as I planned. Everything was jumbled and out of place, but that mess included some of the happiest times in my life. So many of those moments almost didn’t happen because they didn’t fit in with what I had imagined for the year and that would have been a true shame.
So, this year, I’m setting one resolution: I’m going to try to plan less. This doesn’t mean I will abandon my perfectly color coated google calendars or stop scheduling out how I plan to study for classes. But, it does mean I will get less bogged down in the details. I will not let my perfect plans rule my life. Rather, when opportunity knocks, I will greet it, instead of cowering away in the corner because I had not booked it into my calendar. And if opportunity happens to offer to change my life, I will gladly shake his hand and throw away the schedules and calendars, happily pursuing the adventure life has given me.
Over my bed, I have a canvas that reads, “Anything can happen if you let it,” a favorite quote of mine from Mary Poppins. Like usual, she’s quite right. She is practically perfect, after all.
