The first thing that everyone asks each other on the New Year is “What is your New Year Resolution?” For a lot of the population it’s a pretty standard response. Some people focus on dieting, others meeting goals within their career, and improving physical fitness. When I was asked what my New Year Resolution is, I had anything but a standard response. My New Year Resolution is to be Positive. Positive in every aspect of my life. To really enjoy the ups and find a positive spin on the downs. To really truly see the beauty in each day.
The world can seem so down. The news outlets tend to focus on the negative news. The stories that grab your attention while breaking your heart at the same time. Life throws you curve balls, some more than others. I believe this world and myself personally need more positivity. I want to watch the news and see stories of hope, joy, and courage. I am determined to be lifted up versus pulled down by the weight of the negativity that seems to populate the world lately.
To really embrace my resolution of positivity. I searched far and wide for outlets to help me see the positive aspects of the world. How to think positivity about my goals and dreams. Also how to understand how to feel positive about myself. There are so many sources on the internet offering you ways to be happier, to be positive, and grow as a person. Somewhere more helpful than others. Some seems just plain silly, but some really made me sit back and think.
The first way in which I am embracing positivity in the New Year is to have a daily positive quote. Something that when I get up in the morning, it inspires me, pushes me to see the best, do the best, and be my best. I have a small whiteboard in my kitchen. Before it was tasked with keeping track of my many life events spread between four people. Now instead of seeing the many tasks of the day, I get to enjoy one simple task, think positively. So far this has really helped to boost my day. How can you not be inspired by beautiful written words that poetically dig in deep?
Need help in finding inspirational and uplifting quotes? The following links offer great quotes to start your own day out positively great.
http://foundationforwellbeing.org/mind-thoughts-thinking.php
https://amalafoundation.org/inspirational-quotes/?gclid=CJSV2teeqdECFYS4wAodLbIBzA
Positive quotes just don’t seem to be enough to continue forward to really meet my resolution. The second way in which I decided to embrace positivity is to be the positive person. To really keep myself in check to not be pessimistic. To be the sounding box for my friends and family when they are having a bad day, allowing them to vent, and I in return having something positive to tell them. Almost making myself a little cheery therapist, only offering advice to boost their spirits. I have found the more positivity that I show, the more others around me also embrace it. Kind of like when you yawn and then the person next to you has to yawn and even if they didn’t want to it happens anyway. So go out into the world and share a bit of happiness. Give a compliment, it really will change the day for someone. Lets’ love each other and create a network of positive thinking in our homes, neighborhoods, and towns.
Television, magazines, and the internet are some of the worst instigators for self-hate. They point out the flaws in everyone, all the while airbrushing beauty into our daily lives. Have you ever wanted to look just like the woman on the cover of a magazine? I always strived to be like that. To have a perfect body, with perfect hair, and just be overall perfect. Well I had an eye opener in the form of a good friend. My friend is a photographer; she edits photos for a living. I never understood the way in which her editing could truly change a photo. I naively thought it was editing out pimples and brightening sunsets. One day I was feeling quite down and she showed me videos of editing where an old woman was transformed via Photoshop into a young woman. She even showed me a video of a piece of pizza being transformed into a beautiful model. A piece of pizza! A literal slice of pepperoni pie, turned into a woman, all by photo editing. You can watch the videos for yourself here:
Pepperoni to Model: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnvoz91k8hc
100-Year-Old Lady to Young Lady: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA_dXDRkP9s
I never could have even imaged the impact photo editing could have on my personal image. Since she had shown me those images and videos, I know that all my previous beliefs on images and what was wanted of the world was false. Not to say the world doesn’t want skinny beautiful people, but rather they just don’t exist in the way I thought they did. So all the years of negative thinking, all added up to understanding that guess what? No one is perfect. There is no real image I should strive for that being myself. This thought leads into my final journey for positivity in the New Year.
Positivity and absolutely love yourself. Really embrace the things that you don’t love about yourself and perhaps even change them. For many women, myself included, becoming a mother comes with many different changes. The most obvious of those changes are the physical ones. I know the struggle to embrace the post baby body. I know the negative body image, the self-loathing, and the overall sadness that can come from these changes. I spent the last six years wearing baggy clothes to hide away the small remnants of bearing children. I have shied away from shopping trips with friends because nothing seems to look right or fit right. I do not want to be that person anymore. None of us need to feel this way about ourselves. So I say goodbye to sadness, goodbye to judging yourself against others. Instead embrace you, the real you. I really encourage everyone to spend some time this New Year, loving you. Throw away negative thoughts. Realize how wonderful and awesome you are as a person. Take time to indulge yourself in you. If you are passionate about painting, paint away. If you are career driven, strive for those goals. If you are a momma struggling to see the beauty threw the stretch marks, you are beautiful! 2017 is a year of positivity and I am positively not having it any other way! I hope for each person you have a wonderful 2017. A New Year brings new dreams! Stay positive, love one another, and love yourself!
photo credit: www.brainyquote.com
