Things I'm Leaving in 2017

Dear Visitor,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's now 2018 and it's time to hit that reset button and start over! I love the first week of New Years because I like to take my time trying to figure out what I want to do differently this year. There are probably a billion habits that I need to break and there are a couple of things that I've decided to leave back in 2017 and I wonder if I'm the only one. 

1) The Phrase "I FEEL".

Has anyone else realized that we used the phrase "I FEEL" when trying to make a point. I have been guilty of this too. Feelings aren't a good argument for anything and they don't encourage others to listen to what you have to say. So instead, I'm going to use the phrase "I THINK". By using "I THINK", I'm forced to into using critical thinking and facts that are backed up by research instead of the typical childish "But muh feels!!" 

2) The Phrase "TRIGGERED".

I've observed the past year that we use the phrase "TRIGGERED" when describing someone who has a negative reaction to ANYTHING. I think that by doing this we've lost the true meaning of the word. People who suffer from Anxiety Disorders or Post-Traumatic Stress can have an episode "TRIGGERED" by an event, a smell, a sound, etc. By just slapping it to whatever makes us angry isn't the same thing as someone being unable to function because they're going through an episode.

3) Complaining.

I noticed with myself that I can complain about anything. I can complain about my sisters, my classes, my internship, the news, my classmates, etc. But complaining about it really doesn't help me fix the situation. That's not to say that every now and then I won't say, "Geez, this sucks!" I just really want to be better at knowing the difference between expressing frustration and being a whiner.

4) Not Going to the Gym.

I really need to hit the gym. I'm really tired of constantly being told that it's ok that I'm overweight and not doing anything to prevent getting high blood pressure and diabetes. I don't want to be unhealthy anymore and I'm no longer going to add the problem by listening to enablers who believe every obese person has a thyroid problem. I know that I don't. My main inspiration for this change is a friend of mine. She is in her 50s and beat breast cancer, but to keep healthy she hits the gym EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. If a busy 50 year old cancer survivor can be healthy, then a 29 year old grad student can make time to be healthy too.

That's really all I can think of for right now. I hope that you've all had an excellent start to the New Year. I also hope that you took some time to think about what kind of year you want it to be and what you're going to do to make it happen. 

With Love,

M.G.