2020

I’ve always admired New Year’s resolutions. It doesn’t really matter what yours is this year or the ones you didn’t follow through on last year.  

What I find so inspiring, so hopeful about the concept is that humans want to do better. Humans recognize their flaws, make a list of how they can improve, and try. 

Although 80% of people fail their New Year’s resolutions by February, it’s the thought that counts. Right? 

At the end of each year, I reflect on who I have become the previous 12 months. I don’t focus on all the promises to myself I broke; instead, I focus on the things I did do. Maybe I didn’t drink enough water or go to that yoga class, but that doesn’t mean I have failed. 

I became a better communicator. A better writer. A better student. A better daughter. A better friend. I stepped out of my comfort zone. I deepened my faith. I laughed. I made memories.  

Who cares if I’m not drinking eight cups of water every day? I learned so much about myself. 

 All I Will Become 

Now ten days into 2020, I’ve been thinking about the kind of person I want to become in the next year.  

So, my resolution, the promise I will try — and probably fail at many times — is to love harder. 

I know. This seems so simple. Maybe silly even.  

But one of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that life is just too short to not only tell and show the people you love that you love them, but how much you love them. 

What Does This Mean? 

Loving harder is an umbrella resolution, meaning it’s much more than telling people I love them.  

In my personal life, it’s spending quality time with loved ones. It’s showing people love with actions. It’s finding out love languages and making time for others and remembering the small details that make a person who they are. It’s checking in on others and offering comfort when needed.  

In my professional life, it means finding what I love and working hard for that. As I get close to finishing school, I’ll soon enter the real world. I know so many people who don’t love what they do. Even though I’m young and starting out, it doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to love my job. 

Loving harder means taking care of this world we live in, or at least doing my part. It means getting out there and voting for what matters, reducing waste, loving your neighbor no matter how different they are, praying for peace, donating to causes when you can, and helping where you can along the way. 

Above all, I want to love myself harder. I’ve already come a long way after battling depression, but it is something I have to work at to maintain. Making time for myself and doing what’s right for me will continue to be a top priority. 

So, I encourage you to decide. Is this the best you can be? Can you be kinder? More compassionate? More forgiving? Do the people you love know you love them? Have you been caring for yourself? Decide. Breathe. And continue on loving.