Cheers to a new year

“The Mayans were wrong.”

That my friends, was the text one of my best friends sent me at on December 21st. Not that I had any doubts mind you, but it was a little unnerving to see POSSIBLE DOOMSDAY ALMOST HERE constantly splashed on TV.

We made it through 2012 and opened our eyes to 2013.

I could list 10,000 about the past year, but I think Google sums it up a little bit better. Watch the Zeitgeist 2012: Year in Review – but be prepared for emotions and possible tears! The video of NASA celebrating the Mars Rover Landing at 1:26 got me a little choked-up.

So another year to be a better person and make more of a positive difference in the world. Every time I click to Facebook or Twitter, I see a post of friends and colleagues stating several New Years resolutions. Lose 10 pounds, straight As for the upcoming semester, planning a wedding for less than $15,000, increase patience and more.

Seeing all of these resolutions really made me think about my own. In the past, I’ve made resolutions…kept some, modified some, forgot some.

So for 2013, I want to make my resolutions about my health, my future and the business woman I want to become.

1. Take advantage of every opportunity at school. Learn as much as possible, spend time with my amazing classmates and continue to be thankful for this incredible adventure
2. Read 3 Wall Street Journal articles a day. AND, not immediately click to Media & Marketing! 
3. Train for my 3rd half-marathon (I’m trying to run it in under 2 hours) 
4. Cook a little bit more (no, LeanCuisine dinners do not count! I did make a delicious chili crockpot yesterday – so far I’m doing well!)
5. Enjoy life – try not to over-think and stress about absolutely everything.

My mantra for 2013: Work hard, stay true to yourself…and have faith that everything will work out. 

When I hear people say that the new year is a great time to start over, it makes me me a little sad. Does that mean that the last year was a waste?

We always want to start fresh and begin again. But what if the previous year was great? I think that entering 2013 should mean remembering all the great things of 2012 – and being happy. Little changes and ways to improve are great, but don’t ever completely call the previous year a waste.

ringing in the new year

I can definitely say my 2011 holiday season was the craziest, most unusual, I ever experienced. I spent my time with my new-found Disney family and was lucky enough for my mom, dad and sister to leave the cold Ohio-winter and spend the week between Christmas and New Years in Orlando with me.  We were all able to tan by the pool Christmas day before I worked and spent the rest of the week visiting the parks and resorts. It was a struggle for me to drop them off at the airport on the 30th and send them back up to Ohio! I was so touched my family gave up a “normal” Christmas for an non-traditional holiday a thousand miles away.

New Years Eve also followed suite of being very different from my earlier celebrations. I am proud to say I welcomed 2012 in at Toy Story Midway Mania! with my best friends and a few thousand guests.

No sparkle dress, no drinking, no high heels, no party, no toasting to happiness as the ball dropped in New York — but I still had a great time in my Toy Story costume, my sneakers, laughing with guests as they blew their nose-makers and watched some incredible fireworks.

As I talked to a family waiting for their turn to ride, the dad asked me if I had any New Years resolutions for 2012. I listed off my three: hit the gym harder and watch what I eat, get a “big girl” job and try to stress less. Then the dad said to me, sounds like you simply need to project more positive thoughts into the world.

speechless. I had no idea what to say back to this man … I was almost slightly offended that this random man didn’t think I was projecting enough positive thoughts to begin with. I consider myself a very positive, pink and sparkle person.

I asked the man what his comment ment exactly and he told me why have specific goals? People put themselves under so much pressure every day…do this, finish that, look like this, figure that out. He told me that within 15 minutes of meeting me he knew about my plans to return to Ohio, obtain my Masters within five years and start the next chapter of my life as a young professional. The man then told me that he was almost 60 years old and had made  a few resolutions in his life, but those always seemed to disappear in a few months – however, telling yourself to be simply be happy and project happy thoughts into the world never failed.

Ok, that doesn’t seem hard. Instead of stressing about an interview I only think good things about the job, myself and the interview? Pretty easy concept. Not beating myself up for having a brownie and enjoying working out again? I think I can manage that … hard to actually turn off all stress, but I can sure try to work on projecting positive thoughts.

That’s my goal for 2012 – less stress about that things I cannot change. I am the type of person that loves to control everything and make it perfect, but that can lead to more stress and anxiety. Life is pretty good if I do say so myself, so I need to roll with the punches and let whatever happens…happen.

Thanks for reading!