Everyone starts the year with a group of new years resolutions, a classic set of predictable rules that they will seek to stick to, rules like ‘don’t kick cats’, ‘read more’, ‘stop scowling at random people on the street’. Every year, try as we might, we fail amongst the chaos of the year to stick to each of our resolutions. For me it is easy to avoid kicking cats seeing as I don’t own one, as an English student I find it currently impossible to read for pleasure during term, and have you met Oxford tourists?! As you can tell, I am doing well already! This year I am curious to see what I will achieve and which newly established rules will fall at the wayside. 2023 was one of my best years, being filled with adventures and a fair amount of sleep, so I am ready to experience all that 2024 holds in store…

This year’s new years resolutions:

1. Read more

Yes, yes, I know! It’s a common one that I’ve already dismissed as a bad choice. But, this year I have more time, more determination and am off to a flying start having already completed my first book It was The Ocean at the End of the Road, Neil Gaiman, which I started on New Years Eve, reading the first 50 pages before falling asleep and finishing it this morning. For someone who spent her early teens reading exclusively fantasy, it seems shocking that this was my first Gaiman. It was enjoyable and hopefully the beginnings of a journey into his work, but for now I’m going to try to get on top of my towering tbr.

2. Only to do the things that make me the best version of myself

I am not going to sit here and write that I planning to take up yoga and mindfulness and be a happy person 100% of the time. I have been meditating on and off from the age of 14 and doing yoga since 18 and made a pledge to myself when I turned 18 that I would only be positive. Suffice to say, all of this was before I went to university and everyone knows how well being a student turns your life upside down. This is the year that I am determined to get back to that balanced girl of 18, who rose at 5am every morning, meditated and did yoga… or am I? I’d like to keep the slight (or major) insanity that comes with an Oxford lifestyle, but not be nicknamed Eeyore in the process.

For me, this year is about discovering the next step of my journey, about passing my undergraduate exams and learning what the world has in store for me. Anyway, this strange little monologue is just a gentle reminder to set realistic goals for yourself this year. My mother would say that it is not about make goals for the new year, but setting new goals every day. We wake up and in those few seconds before we are fully conscious we decide what mood we are in, how we will approach the day. And so, each morning try to make the decision that you will treat the day with joy, with positivity, that you will exercise today or meditate or eat healthily… Whatever the goal is, you can reset each morning, you can try again, you can do better than you did yesterday. All it takes is determination and some self love.

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