The year of 2016 ended and I think just about everyone couldn’t wait for it to be over. If you think about it, there was so much negativity that carried on all throughout the year. There were bombings, shootings, and one of the most brutal presidential campaigns in history. I don’t mean to be completely negative, but it is worth noting all the pain that we endured throughout the year. There were good times and there were bad times, but I think we all can agree that some change would do us all some good.
With all that pain in mind, I actually came up with the perfect New Years Resolution. My idea is to cut out anything in my life that dragged me down. It isn’t a focused goal like losing weight or playing less video games. Rather this resolution requires a little soul-searching. I had to ask myself around the end of December, “What all do you want to get rid of for 2017?” After some thinking, I came up with a few topics but there are three that stand out the most.
The first one is to cut out my negative feelings towards a few people who are both in my life or once were in my life. My ex-girlfriend and I broke up midway through 2016 and it wasn’t the prettiest of breakups. There has been lots of soreness between the two of us ever since. I always felt the need to bring her up in conversations and rant about her, but I realized that the longer I did that, the longer that pain would have power over me. I lowered my pride and dropped her completely. Maybe there is someone who is holding you back from being happy. I suggest cutting them out. You will feel so much better when you do.
I also decided to get rid of my tendency to not do things out of fear. We’ve all experienced a time where we felt like talking to the girl or trying out something new, but our fear keeps us from seizing the opportunity. This has happened to me several times in my life. I often found myself not wanting to participate in something fun out of fear of embarrassment. I went to Bremond with a friend for the Polish Festival and while I was there, I met a girl who was nice and very good-looking. I got to talk to her for a little bit, but as the night went on, I never asked for a number or anything of the sort. When she finally had to go home, I realized that I missed my opportunity. I was afraid of the answer she would give. I actually got a head start on this part of my resolution, for I found myself trying new foods at my sister’s office Christmas party.
Finally, I decided to cut out my tendency to retaliate. You know those times when someone says something that is absolutely horrible about you and you can’t help but show him what your hands be talking about? Well, I have had troubles as of late to retaliate to people who made the mistake of crossing me. There was a lot of trash talking before we played Cuero during our football season. Some people said negative things about me personally, calling me things like “trash” and a “non-factor.” I played that game with a chip on my shoulder. One bad thing about that is when I play emotionally, I don’t play as well as I do when I am focused. I made several mistakes that I am sure I wouldn’t have made had I been zoned in on performing.
I am sure that you may have something that is holding you back from making 2017 better than 2016. For me, it was all that negativity. Once I realized that cutting all of it out felt so liberating, I couldn’t help but be happy. What do you want to cut out of your life in 2017? Let me know in the comments!
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