Oh what it is to be young: Resolutions for 2012

I have returned from my trip to San Fransisco and a week with a 4 and a half year old and a two year old only to realize that my dear friend Brianna Guidorzi’s 2012 motto should be aptly applied in my life.

Oh What it is to be young!

I am twenty years old. This year I will turn 21. I am financially independent, living in a great city, learning a ton, and childless (for a very, very long time). I have opportunity and possibility abounding. I have the life station to take big risks, and spend 5 weeks in Oxford, and conquer Plan II Physics.

So, some 2012 resolutions:

Learn to Rest: I am a workaholic, and I run myself into the ground. I schedule out every second of my day, and I have a running to-do list. I am not naive enough to think that I can change this, but I need to rest. This year, I will intentionally schedule restful events to keep myself from overworking. Practically: I plan (bahah) to take a day to rest every week, probably saturday, and to go for walks.

Live Spontaneously Last year was the first year of my life that I did things spontaneously. I went on a week vacation to Colorado with little planning, and I had a great time. This year, I want to continue this. Not to say that I will avoid my detailed agenda, but simply that I will not let it rule my life. I will give myself freedom from my iPhone, and my Facebook, and my Twitter when I need to in order to enjoy having few ties and plenty of freedom.

Read Intentionally There is no doubt that I will read in 2012. 2011 brought 62 books under my belt and a new favorite author. This year, I will create a list (in the next week) of Classic and award winning novels which I have neglected for modern fiction or fear. This will begin with To Kill a Mockingbird and probably include Russian fiction. I will also (deep breath) attempt to read award winning non-fiction. maybe.

Write With Passion I’ve grown nervous in my writing. All of these mounting rejection letters and struggles have brewed in me a fear of my own inability. I have struggled to write anything at all. When I spoke with my English professor about my “plan to get published”, he calmly reminded me that I should write what I feel, what I believe, and what moves me. To write with passion, and not to write to get published.

Dream Big, Act Small Self-explanatory. Eat well, be active, read often, do good work, pass plan II physics. Break all of my crazy big dreams into tiny pieces. Take become an author, and break it into write 500 words a day. Tiny steps in 2012.

Oh What it is to be young!