Rosie and her 20's
I’m currently in the Azores time zone and the New Year is just a few hours away! I can’t wait to update everyone on my trip and post all the blogs I’ve been writing during my very long travels.
I hope everyone has a great New Year, it’s a time to reflect and start over. It’s a time to prove we can do better. I appreciate every single person reading this blog and wish you all the best.
Happy New Year!
Xoxo
Rosie
The last few months have just not been my time to shine. I’ve had a lot of disappointments and a lot of things I was interested in have let me down. I’m extremely stressed and feel like I can’t catch a break. Unfortunately, this week my family dog passed away. And now the holidays just seem rough.
Maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world to end the year on a bad note. The new year is supposed to allow us to start new – right?
While I enjoyed 2017, it presented me with a lot of challenges that I assume just come with being in your twenties, being in a relationship, and working full time. It makes me miss the simpler times of living at home or in college and just being care free. But I’m sure those times presented challenges too, I just can’t remember them right now.
2017 also allowed me to see a whole lot of the world, it allowed me to form more relationships, and transition into a new part of my life.
I’m not happy about ending the year on such a sour note, but at least I have big plans in 2018 to look forward to and have the opportunity to really clear my head and make a path for a great new year. I’m ending the year on a bad note in hopes of a happier future.
Sometimes I feel like I’m going nowhere. I feel stuck in the same place and the constant need to do more, be more, see more. And I know a lot of people can relate. It sucks to feel like you’re not progressing.
But you are.
Last year, I made a 2016 fall bucket list and checked off many of the items happily. This year, I did the same and kind of feel underwhelmed by my activities and my goals. I feel like I can’t reach them and I feel like it’s just a repeat of last year.
But it’s not.
Every year, every day, no matter who you are, we are growing and learning and improving upon ourselves. Last year I had a goal to reach 2,200 Instagram followers. This year the goal is 6,500 Instagram followers. I’ve grown 4,000 followers in the past year and I worked really hard and felt really great when I was hitting those small strides. I forgot to stop and congratulate myself.
I just keep chugging along without stopping to look back and see my improvements and how much I’ve grown. And that kind of becomes a depressing way of life. Even though I’m setting these goals, nothing is driving me to finish them anymore.
I don’t want to finish them anymore because I never stop to reward myself for the things I’ve done. I check it off the list then create another goal. But why did I go through all that work? Why wouldn’t I want to celebrate? Because when you don’t stop to recognize your achievements, you think you’re not improving. But you are, we all are. We just need to take a moment and pat ourselves on the back.
I still hate winter. Have always hated winter. Each time this season rolls around I am reminded about how awful it is – cold, dark, and just ugh. But I decided to make the best of it, so here’s my winter bucket list:
1. Be happy
2. 500 likes on my Facebook page
4. Go on a weekend trip
5. Take more pictures/go more places
6. Actually enjoy New Years
7. Get into a yoga routine
9. Change up my hair
10. Make more time for friends
12. Play in the snow
13. Crochet/knit a beanie
14. Learn something new
15. Continue my commitment to my job
Do you have any goals this winter? Let me know in the comments!
When you’re in a not-so-great place, it is not easy to find five things that will cheer you up. But as you grow, you begin to add to that list. You find more and more things that help put you in the direction you want to be in. The direction of happiness.
Here are five things that made me a happier person when I was a not so happy person. And here are six things that make me a happier person now that I am in a better place:
One of my goals for this winter is to reach 500 likes on my Facebook page! Currently I am at 494 likes, so only 6 away. Which is such a little number, but I think in the last few months I’ve gotten like one like per month. Meh.
SO I need your help! If you have a Facebook and would like to help out, please head over to https://www.facebook.com/hookupcultures/ and give my page a like 🙂 If your blog has a Facebook page, please drop the link in the comments and I will give it a like as well!
Thanks so much in advance for all of your support!
xoxo
Rosie
Although I am huge on making goals and resolutions, a new idea was brought to my attention this year and I’d love to try it out. On top of my resolutions for 2017, I also chose a word to live by this year.
Essentially, this is to help you bypass the large load of things you want to change about yourself and just choose one to work on. You can read more about this concept at http://myoneword.org/, this website will also help you find your own word!
The word I have chosen for 2017 is enough.
I am enough. I don’t have to change myself or push myself or drain myself of everything just to please other people. The ones who accept me are the ones who can stick around, the ones who don’t just aren’t necessary.
I don’t want to worry endlessly anymore if I’m good enough, if I deserve something. If I’m pretty enough, what I can do to get there. Because I need to be enough for me. I need to stop striving for things that are outside the realm of my possibility.
But I also want to focus on if I am doing enough and being mindful. Is my lazy day in bed a day well spent. Are there other things, better things, that I could be doing? Am I putting enough effort into things that truly matter? When I get out of bed in the morning, drive to work, and come home – are those things enough or can I do more? Can I stretch myself a little further to be a better version of myself?
Even if you don’t choose a word this year or make goals, I hope you have time to do what you need to do in order to be happy. If you do choose a word, leave it in the comments!
