by The Cowl Editor on January 17, 2019
Editor's Column
As we head into the spring semester, it is hard to believe that it is already 2019.
For many people, the new year comes with New Year’s resolutions. Ranging from vowing to go to the gym more or promising ourselves not to leave all of our homework until the night before it is due, most of these resolutions fizzle out before the first month of the year is even over.
It is really hard and frankly unfair to ourselves to decide that just because the world has flipped to a new year on the calendar, that it will all of a sudden be easy to change our entire lifestyle.
Instead, this year we should focus on smaller goals, on making our everyday lives better a little bit at a time. It is unrealistic to go from never going to the gym to spending hours there every day.
Instead, a better goal might be to try a fitness class or to choose one day a week to go for a run with a friend or a roommate. Scheduling in an hour or two to be at the library on the weekends to get work done would be more fruitful than sitting there for hours on weekday nights with books open and glazed eyes.
Change never happens quickly or spontaneously and it is not fair to any of us to expect that changing from one year to the next will make it so.
Resolutions, no matter how well-planned, should never get in the way of caring for ourselves.
This year, we should all make sure to plan activities with friends or make some downtime to relax and watch some Netflix.
Any resolutions we may make about bettering our health or our academics are not worth it if they come at the cost of our mental wellbeing. “New year, new me” may make for a fun Instagram caption, but a better attitude towards the new year would be making sure to care for our entire selves and to set smaller, more personal and achievable goals.
This way, 2019 can truly be the best year for all of us.