Rethinking New Year's Resolutions: Honoring the Old You and Dreaming Big

New Year, New You! I’m sure you are seeing this marketing message all over the place right now. On TV, in your inbox, and on social media. But what about the old me? What was wrong with that person that society feels so strongly needs to change?

I have been surrounded by this message for as long as I can remember. Literally since I was a little girl I was always asked what my New Year’s resolution was and for some reason, that always felt like I had to give something up, or be better than I was before. As I grew, I remember going into my preteen and teenage years thinking that resolution needed to be a diet as oftentimes that was what I heard coming out of the mouths from the women I looked up to (mom, aunts, older cousins etc). How horrible is that?

In my twenties I would say that same message was always looming in the back of my mind. It wasn’t until what I would consider my early adulthood in my thirties, that I took hold of what the New Year meant to me. This was a time to reset intention. To look inside and reflect on the year past and not pass judgement on what was not accomplished but instead honor all of the accomplishments both big and small. It is a time to look ahead of the year to come and to start dreaming big. To perhaps write those dreams down (whether on paper or inscribed in my mind) and become excited to put those dreams into action.

And I would be lying if I also don’t look forward to January as a time to reset my body. And to be clear, this is not a diet! My body is my body, and it is a temple. After allowing myself to indulge over the holiday season without a moment of guilt, I like to reset and cleanse my body of overly heavy foods and sugars as well as alcohol. This doesn’t mean I stop eating. It just feels good to take a break of the aforementioned and by doing so, I get a boost of energy and excitement to move forward with my intentions. I never limit myself to my desires on food or beverages, I use my judgement and always remember life is about balance. It is not about obtaining perfection. We are here to learn and grow every day and we cannot grow, if we are holding ourselves to what we internalize as perfection.

You do you, and never let anyone else tell you not to!