Happy January!! It seems almost unreal that this past year has come and gone so quickly. I feel like only yesterday I was considering (and abandoning) resolutions for 2013 and choosing bright words to light my way for the year. One year ago, I was starving for the opportunity to start fresh, and move on from the difficulties and hardships of the year before.
This year, though, I feel differently. Maybe it's because 2013 has been so good to me: I ventured out of my comfort zone and ran (okay. let's get real. I jogged) my first 5k. My sister and I unleashed our inner Swifties and sang our hearts out at Taylor Swift's Red Tour, this summer (with her being fifteen and me twenty-two, could it really have been anymore perfect??). I walked the stage to accept my bachelor's degree. And then I took that degree and became a Kindergarten and First grade teacher. I still didn't finish that Instagram challenge... but that's what this year is for, right? ;)
This year, I don't really want to start fresh or begin again. I want to keep going. To see what's next. With this being said, I'm ready for 2014. For it's opportunities.. All 365 of them.
This year, I want to revisit my youth. Whaaaat? You're only 22, you say? Well, yes. I may only be 22 in people-years. But in Alynne-years I feel about 80. It kind of hit me this morning when I woke up (after sleeping over 12 hours...) that I am, without a doubt, an old lady. I go to bed before 8. I don't go out on Friday nights. Or ever, for that matter. Heck. I even enjoy a good Wheel of Fortune episode, every now and again. And for being in my twenties... I dare say this is a problem. BUT: I did feel better on New Year's Eve: It was the first one in any that I can remember that I scrolled through my Twitter timeline to see my friends and followers tweeting their NYE in sweatpants, with their babies, and/or sober. (I think that means I'm not the only one getting old.)
And also this year, I want to make time for me. It's been so easy to get wrapped up in the here and now's of teaching, and it's been a very difficult fact to accept that my work will never be done. I will always need to be lesson planning. I will always need to be IEP writing. And I always will have paper work that needs doing. But that shouldn't take away from the fact that I have a life too. (Well... correction: I don't actually have a life. But I SHOULD have one! Hence, these resolutions).
Over Christmas break, it felt wonderful to sleep in and read books. So wonderful, that when we finally went back to school yesterday, I found myself secretly wishing for (and getting!) a snow day, today. (After all, one more day off can't hurt!). In 2014, I want to be able to blog without feeling guilty. And I want to be able to read a book without worrying about all of the must-do's on my to-do list. Maybe, this year, I'll even find it somewhere in myself to take a day off here and there. Maybe.
Truth be told, I don't want to revamp my lifestyle or make drastic changes to live my life to the fullest. I just want to live.
So here's to 2014. The up's. The down's. And the resolutions.
Happy New Year!
What are your resolutions for the new year?
hi!
ReplyDeleteI love your Hunter Boots. Also I feel the same about feeling like a 80 year old in a 22 year old body. I hardly go out on weekends, and go to be early. I think I will make a resolution to revisit my youth as well, thanks for the inspiration!
Hi!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I really like you Hunter boots in your photos, and secondly I can relate about feeling like an eighty year old in a 22 year old body. I'm the same age as well, and hardly go out, well I just lack a social life when that shouldn't be the case. You've inspired me to revisit my youth, and embrace it. So thank you.