I started working on this list a month or so ago, jotting down thoughts whenever they struck me of what I wanted the coming year to be like. Most are silly, some are serious – coincidentally how I would also describe the LinkedIn “photo shoot” outtakes I’ve included here. Realized it’s fun to document these things, especially for the sake of looking back a few years from now to see the changes.
Thanks for having me, 23. I’m super excited to be here.
1) Stop rounding up your age before you get there. You’ve got all of next year to be that old.
2) Eat more potatoes.
3) Eat less chocolate.
4) Always give your little brother a hug when you come home.
5) Keep poison out of your heart.
6) Another year gone by, another every-Sandra-Bullock-movie-marathon gone undone. JUST DO IT.
7) Hydrate.
8) Don’t force it.
9) Tell your friends that you’re proud of them because you are.
10) Have courage & be kind.
11) Crush that new job.
12) Stop assuming the worst – sometimes the friendly stranger is just a friendly stranger.
13) Remember to miss the snow every once in a while.
14) Make yourself laugh every. single. day. (you’re very good at this, shouldn’t be a problem)
15) Follow those gut feeling first instincts. Instead of not doing that and immediately regretting it 99.87% of the time.
16) Don’t pet the sweaty things.
17) Never give a half-hearted hug. Bear or bust.
18) Surround yourself with more plants, they make you very happy. Just try to stop naming them, cause then they make you sad when they inevitably die.
19) Ask people to tell you their stories.
20) Learn some natural remedies.
21) Be prepared to lose arguments and practice taking it graciously.
22) Bite to ten. Your heart will feel happier after not saying what your flip-switch temper wants you to.
23) This is the year… to listen to more Incubus. (2009’s “Monuments & Melodies” – ENOUGH SAID)
