It's 2015!

Did you have a great Christmas? I certainly did, I had the best time with my family just relaxing. I probably watched more than 10 films in the space of 8 days, and for three days I didn't really feel hungry at any point. I'll share some photos of my Christmas surroundings in Finland, I'm sure you can agree it was ideal.

Now that it's a new year, I decided to make some resolutions to ensure I have the best possible year. We'll see how well I'll keep them, but I didn't go too hard on myself, and I definitely think these are keepable!

1) Keep a diary.

I have never really been a diary person, I did receive one for Christmas when I was about 13-14 and I kept it for 6-12 months but I didn't see the point in continuing. What's more, shortly afterwards I had one of my "get rid of everything unnecessary" fits that I get from time to time (I hate mess) so I threw it away. I am definitely more of a practical than sentimental person. In hindsight, it might have been very nice to read back the thoughts of the 13-year-old me. Anyway, this year I really do want to try, not really for the sake of being able to read it back years later, but rather to take the time to reflect various things in my life more thoroughly. I'm planning to write something short every day. I kind of got the inspiration from Emma Watson, she said in an interview that she has kept a diary almost since she started Harry Potter because her grandmother told her to take all the things down that happen in her life so that she can appreciate them later on. Albeit my life is not nearly as interesting as hers (haha, "nearly" here is such an underestimation), I do want to think things over more since I've really noticed how easy it is for days, weeks, years to just pass by. I think this blog is also a good place to have some reflective "me" time more.

Wow, this got deep. I better move quickly to resolution number

2) Maintain a semi-healthy lifestyle.

I do recollect my rant from a month back about taking "being healthy" too far. However, I do think physical activity and healthy food are very important to feel good now and in the future. So, I'll try to keep around 70 percent of my diet healthy with lots of vegetables, fruit, fibre and protein. I'll try to do some yoga a couple of times a week and go running every once in a while when it's tolerable outside.

3) Be more social.

This probably sounds sooo weird. I am not a recluse, if that's what you think. I am a very shy person and as long as I can remember, at the start of every school year I promised myself that I would start being more social and talk to people more. I never really succeeded. I have become more used to chatting with strangers since I've gotten older, but I do still fear that people's first impression of me is "shy". I have started to be more accepting of who I am these past years (I actually think this might be a possible future blogpost, so I won't go into too much detail here) and I accept that introversion is just a part of who I am. However, I do think that it is just very easy nowadays to spend all your free time in your room with your laptop in your lap because "thanks" to social media, you feel like you are being social. This year, I will be open to new people, experiences and opportunities even if it means I won't be able to spend every night on Netflix and YouTube eating chocolate (this coincides nicely with resolutions #2!). I am definitely guilty of sometimes turning down seeing friends just because I feel too lazy and I'd just rather spend the night with my computer and I think that is okay sometimes, but I'll try reducing the number of those times. I am also the kind of person that listens at the door to make sure there is no one in the kitchen to make sure I'll be able to get in and out quickly and to return to binge-watching SprinkleOfGlitter's videos as soon as possible (I don't do this often and I do love chatting and spending time with my flatmates, but this does happen. I'm an awful person). And after all, all of my absolutely best memories are with my family and friends (I think that is true for everyone).

4) Learn to not regret and appreciate that things happen for a reason.

I am quite good at living in the moment, but sometimes I do mull over past mistakes or worry about the future for hours after I've turned out the light (bedtime's the time when everyone develops an anxiety disorder). I do want to reduce the time of regret/worry to an absolute minimum. The thing that helps me is to think that everything happens for a reason. I am here because of everything that's happened in the past, the happy things and successes but also the mistakes. In addition, it is helpful to look back to times when I've been worried sick of something in the future, when it's looked like there's no way something will turn out right and in the end it has. It is very true that things tend to work out eventually, which makes worrying about them totally unnecessary.

This kind of ties in with my ongoing process of developing self-confidence in who I am. That is not something I'll want to, or even be able to, finish this year, but I do want to continuously work towards being confident being me. I think I will make an entire blogpost about this topic so I'll touch self-confidence here only briefly.

Anyway, these are the things I have been thinking of lately and what I think will help make 2015 the best year of my life. I'll also try to write here as often as possible, but I want to make sure it stays fun so I won't set any deadlines for myself. I do want to write regularly, not really for the readers (I suspect there's not many of you anyway), but to make sure I do get the "reflective me-time" I was talking about earlier.

What are your new year's resolutions? Does anyone have any same ones as me? I might do a "halfway there" type of post in the summer to take a moment to think about how I'm getting on, and to let you know at the same time!

I already miss Christmas, but I'm very excited for the new year as well! And fortunately I have lots of Christmas chocolate left over! :)

Love,

Maddy-Lou