2017 Might Not Be The Best Year Ever, And That’s Okay

January. The time of new beginnings, also shadowed by the pressure of all our somewhat unachievable goals, followed by guilt of missing one day of exercising, or eating all that chocolate. If you’re nodding to yourself in agreement then welcome to the club.

My January started and ended with tears. But you know what, it’s okay. Because I don’t expect 2017 to be ‘the best year yet’, or ‘the year of less mistakes’, or ‘the year I take control of my life’. Because thinking those things would build me up for inevitable failure, because I’m a perfectionist and if things don’t turn out how I want them in line with my ridiculously high expectations then I’ve failed and that’s not how I want to live this year.

*Breathes*

2017 will not be the best year yet, but it will be pretty damn good

Just because it’s 2017, doesn’t mean that everything magically becomes okay. I will still have bad days, new challenges will crop up that I have to deal with and there will be many ups and downs. This year, I am learning how to deal with these things better. I will have bad days and good days and I will embrace whatever day comes my way.

 ‘You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will’ – Stephen King

2017 will be the year I make loads of mistakes and that’s how I will grow

I’m not perfect. Every day I am trying to be a better version of myself and that’s a pretty darn good start. And the only way you can grow is to make mistakes and not beat yourself up after making them. (Something I’m working on.) Life is messy and this year I am embracing that a little bit more, because I am human.

‘Mistakes are the portals of discovery’ – James Joyce

2017 will be the year I lose control and get myself back on track again

This is the year I am going to do things that are out of my comfort zone. And I will lose control and freak out; I will cry until my chest hurts and I will fall to pieces, but then I will get back up on my own and carry on. I am grateful for the struggle, because it makes me a stronger person every single day.

‘Sometimes we must lose ourselves to find ourselves’ – Sonny Long