new year's resolutions

New year's resolutions.

I think new year's resolutions are great, don't get me wrong. it's a time of year where everybody looks at themselves and says, "Hey self. You're awesome. But you could be better." People set goals for themselves. Work out more. Lose ten pounds. (Or in my case gain ten pounds). Write more. Read more. Eat better. Live better. Walmart.

But I think new years doesn't come around often enough.

So, in the spirit of thanksgiving, I have decided to write down some new resolutions for myself and for you, the audience. Maybe this will give you some ideas, and maybe this will give me some accountability. So here we go.

1. Do something.

2. Regret nothing.

That's it. My two goals.

Nah i'm kidding. There's more. But those are the two main things that everything else falls under. I've decided that actions speak louder than words, and i'm itching to sing. I want to do something every day that gets me closer to where I want to be. I want to be in the place where I know where I want to be. That is to say, I don't know where I want to be in the future. A week from now, a year, ten years. I have no idea what the future brings. But, I want to be ready for it, whatever it is. In the words of one of my idols, Steve Jobs, "For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I'm about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'no' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." I think I want to start doing that. Don't worry, I'm not gonna drop out of college or anything. I have some of my own thoughts to the end of his statement. "I know I need to change something." I think that that "something" could be interpreted as "don't do what you don't want to do", but I don't like that. I think that "something" is an attitude. If you wake up, and you hate your life, maybe you need some perspective. Millions of people have it worse off than you, what right do you have to complain? I'm not saying that your problems are insignificant, but if you can put whatever you're complaining about in a #firstworldproblems tweet, maybe you need to suck it up. So with that philosophy in mind, here are some more specific goals that will hopefully get me where I need to go.

1. Learn more. (scripture, school, etc.)

2. Love more. (service, forgiveness, gratitude, etc.)

3. Live more. (get off the computer, go outside, see friends, get crazy, etc.)

4. Play more. (music, writing, reading, restrict video game time, etc.)

5. Laugh more. (don't take the above too seriously)

Alright! So those are still not very specific. So let's keep going.

1. a. Scripture (BoM, Bible, Preach My Gospel, HTM, Jesus the Christ, etc.)

-read daily (30+ minutes [at least 15 BoM])

b. School

-Get at least B's

2. a. Service (Temple, blood, home teaching, other)

-Temple at least weekly (Friday)

-Give blood at least weekly (Saturday)

-DO YOUR HOME TEACHING SLACKER

-Find something to do for somebody, wherever you are

b. Forgiveness

-If you ever catch yourself harboring a grudge, forgive them immediately.

c. Gratitude

-Live every moment in gratitude. Gratitude for breath. Gratitude for vision. Gratitude for mind.

3. a. Computer time

-limit to 30 minutes of non-'educational' pursuits.

b. Go outside

-it's beautiful outside. enough said.

c. See friends

-be with your friends when you're with your friends

d. Get crazy

-you're already crazy, let's keep it that way

4. a. Music

-listen to it more

-listen to clean music

-keep making it

b. Writing

-finish NaNoWriMo, even if the month ends

-write poetry more

c. Reading

-scripture study isn't the only reading you should be doing

-read at least 30 minutes of non-church material

d. Restrict video game time

-delete Minecraft.

5. a. Laugh more

-be willing to break the rules for the sake of adventure

I hope you like my goals! I hope I can keep them... I'll keep ya'll updated!