Hi friends,
This blog comes to you from 2015! We made it! Also, here's all the things Back to the Future swore we'd have by now.
2014 was a big year for me that saw an internship in the NBC News bureau in Miami, an internship in New York City with CBS News, my graduation from the University of Miami and a completed broadcasting reel. If you want to get caught up on the adventure that was, check out my last blog post. And if you want to be ahead of the curve on all of the adventures still to come this year, (they'll be good, I promise!) follow me on instagram now!
Moving on, we did make it to 2015, and I hope you rang it in with some of the people who matter most to you. If you didn't, I hope you're able to find a few minutes sometime soon to call those who do, and let them know you miss them. Or don't, like, honestly this is your life and I'm not here to tell you how to live it, I'm just grateful you read my blogs.
"Here's the Thing..." is a new series on my website in which I let you know my deal on a various topic. You know when something comes up in conversation, and then comes your turn to weigh in and you go, "well, here's the thing..." followed by whatever you have to say. Maybe it's a little vent-y or soap box-y, but I have a degree in Broadcast Journalism and I uphold your First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech as much as the next girl.
I'm sorry if your intelligence was insulted by that description. I'm certain you would've caught on sans explanation but I felt more comfortable covering all bases. If you'd like to reclaim your power, feel free to always scroll all the way down to any page on my website and fill out that comment card if you have a suggestion for a "Here's the Thing..." post! I'd love it if you did that. On that note, feel free to use that comment card to talk with me whenever you'd like!
And now, the reason you decided to read this post, here's the thing about New Year's resolutions.
First of all, it seems New Year's resolutions are the butt of a joke these days. If you're at a New Year's party or having a conversation that takes place in the first few weeks of January, it's common you'll be asked about your resolutions: if you made any, what they were, and, this is the joke part, how long you think it'll be until you break it. In fact, a 2007 study on a group of about 3000 people found 88% of them failed to keep resolutions made at the beginning of the year.
This blog comes to you from 2015! We made it! Also, here's all the things Back to the Future swore we'd have by now.
2014 was a big year for me that saw an internship in the NBC News bureau in Miami, an internship in New York City with CBS News, my graduation from the University of Miami and a completed broadcasting reel. If you want to get caught up on the adventure that was, check out my last blog post. And if you want to be ahead of the curve on all of the adventures still to come this year, (they'll be good, I promise!) follow me on instagram now!
Moving on, we did make it to 2015, and I hope you rang it in with some of the people who matter most to you. If you didn't, I hope you're able to find a few minutes sometime soon to call those who do, and let them know you miss them. Or don't, like, honestly this is your life and I'm not here to tell you how to live it, I'm just grateful you read my blogs.
"Here's the Thing..." is a new series on my website in which I let you know my deal on a various topic. You know when something comes up in conversation, and then comes your turn to weigh in and you go, "well, here's the thing..." followed by whatever you have to say. Maybe it's a little vent-y or soap box-y, but I have a degree in Broadcast Journalism and I uphold your First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech as much as the next girl.
I'm sorry if your intelligence was insulted by that description. I'm certain you would've caught on sans explanation but I felt more comfortable covering all bases. If you'd like to reclaim your power, feel free to always scroll all the way down to any page on my website and fill out that comment card if you have a suggestion for a "Here's the Thing..." post! I'd love it if you did that. On that note, feel free to use that comment card to talk with me whenever you'd like!
And now, the reason you decided to read this post, here's the thing about New Year's resolutions.
First of all, it seems New Year's resolutions are the butt of a joke these days. If you're at a New Year's party or having a conversation that takes place in the first few weeks of January, it's common you'll be asked about your resolutions: if you made any, what they were, and, this is the joke part, how long you think it'll be until you break it. In fact, a 2007 study on a group of about 3000 people found 88% of them failed to keep resolutions made at the beginning of the year.
If your eyes are peeled when you're surfing the web, I'm sure you've seen some articles on advice for making stronger resolutions, tips for making them stick, and if not, this one, saying it's normal to be terrible at keeping these promises you make to yourself. Doesn't admitting our failure before we even decide to begin violate every rule that could ensure success? Most likely, yes.
Sometimes life hands you a bad day. It hands all of us bad days. And when I have a bad day, before it's time for bed I like to remind myself that tomorrow is a brand new day, and we have a chance to make that day just a bit better than the bad day treated us the day before. So why are we waiting until a new year to set these vague, broad, truly unreachable goals when every day we should be doing those much smaller, tangible things for ourselves to make that day better?
No. No to all of it.
Resolutions are commonly about physical fitness, eating healthier, drinking less, or maybe quitting smoking. Maybe saving money, or making small investments. Sometimes they're about education, and learning a new skill or reading a certain amount of books. And sometimes, they're about things we can't even control, like a timeline for our personal lives that will happen at its own pace.
About that, another point, and perhaps what this post is really all about, I think we should make fewer plans. Maybe that's the root of my opposition to resolutions. They say if you want to make God laugh, make plans. I don't mean lunch plans or plans to catch up over coffee, because you should definitely plan your groceries enough to not run out right before dinner etc. But big plans. Plans you make in January hoping to keep through December. 5-year plans, 10-year plans. They're going to look completely different when reality has its way than anything we could have planned for, and we can pretend to know what's great for us and exactly how it will happen, but we're only pretending and we have little control over most things.
My desire to want to plan these things causes me more anxiety than most anything does. I'm choosing not to bring this into the new year.
I feel quite strongly that we should resolve to stop all of that right about now. Clearly, I'm not against the ideas behind making resolutions: improvement of ourselves and maybe the world we live in. However, I'd rather resolve every single day to be a sensitive, caring person who works hard to be a good friend and family member. I'd rather silently resolve before every interaction to be as respectful and understanding as I can be, and to walk away from those that are less-than, and realize I should have and could have been kinder. Every single day, not just at the dawn of a new year, we should decide not to engage in toxic conversations, relationships or habits. And to take a good hard look around when things are going well and just be glad for that. Not only when the year is ending.
Why we don't wake up every day and decide to be just a tad bit better than we were yesterday is beyond me. And we really don't do this except for when something bad happens and then we're digging ourselves out of holes.
But in 2015, I raise a proverbial glass of champagne to you, and propose a toast: let's resolve to wake up every single day and decide to be just a little better, to go to sleep every night counting blessings instead of worries, and for an entire year, to make far less plans. I hope my non-plans lead me to places you care to read about, and that you know many of you are the blessings I choose to count when my head hits the pillow. If any of that ever goes astray, I have very good news for you, which is that tomorrow is always a brand new day. We'll do a lot better together then.
You heard it here first,
Jordan
P.S- If you like to hear about "Here's the Thing..." and have a topic suggestion, please use the comment section below. I'll listen to you, I swear!
Sometimes life hands you a bad day. It hands all of us bad days. And when I have a bad day, before it's time for bed I like to remind myself that tomorrow is a brand new day, and we have a chance to make that day just a bit better than the bad day treated us the day before. So why are we waiting until a new year to set these vague, broad, truly unreachable goals when every day we should be doing those much smaller, tangible things for ourselves to make that day better?
No. No to all of it.
Resolutions are commonly about physical fitness, eating healthier, drinking less, or maybe quitting smoking. Maybe saving money, or making small investments. Sometimes they're about education, and learning a new skill or reading a certain amount of books. And sometimes, they're about things we can't even control, like a timeline for our personal lives that will happen at its own pace.
About that, another point, and perhaps what this post is really all about, I think we should make fewer plans. Maybe that's the root of my opposition to resolutions. They say if you want to make God laugh, make plans. I don't mean lunch plans or plans to catch up over coffee, because you should definitely plan your groceries enough to not run out right before dinner etc. But big plans. Plans you make in January hoping to keep through December. 5-year plans, 10-year plans. They're going to look completely different when reality has its way than anything we could have planned for, and we can pretend to know what's great for us and exactly how it will happen, but we're only pretending and we have little control over most things.
My desire to want to plan these things causes me more anxiety than most anything does. I'm choosing not to bring this into the new year.
I feel quite strongly that we should resolve to stop all of that right about now. Clearly, I'm not against the ideas behind making resolutions: improvement of ourselves and maybe the world we live in. However, I'd rather resolve every single day to be a sensitive, caring person who works hard to be a good friend and family member. I'd rather silently resolve before every interaction to be as respectful and understanding as I can be, and to walk away from those that are less-than, and realize I should have and could have been kinder. Every single day, not just at the dawn of a new year, we should decide not to engage in toxic conversations, relationships or habits. And to take a good hard look around when things are going well and just be glad for that. Not only when the year is ending.
Why we don't wake up every day and decide to be just a tad bit better than we were yesterday is beyond me. And we really don't do this except for when something bad happens and then we're digging ourselves out of holes.
But in 2015, I raise a proverbial glass of champagne to you, and propose a toast: let's resolve to wake up every single day and decide to be just a little better, to go to sleep every night counting blessings instead of worries, and for an entire year, to make far less plans. I hope my non-plans lead me to places you care to read about, and that you know many of you are the blessings I choose to count when my head hits the pillow. If any of that ever goes astray, I have very good news for you, which is that tomorrow is always a brand new day. We'll do a lot better together then.
You heard it here first,
Jordan
P.S- If you like to hear about "Here's the Thing..." and have a topic suggestion, please use the comment section below. I'll listen to you, I swear!
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