A week into 2015, I have finally come up with a resolution for the new year.

I spent a lot of time thinking about goals I have and parts of my life I’d like to improve, and as always, the list was fairly long. This is not to say that I don’t like my life; I’m actually very happy with it. I have just always been a goal-driven person who focuses on betterment.

Rather than trying to focus on several different resolutions that I will no doubt abandon a month into 2015, I instead wanted to find a blanket goal that I think would hold my attention for the whole year. The idea for my resolution came out of an epiphany I had while attempting to get over an illness.

Like plenty of other people in Michiana, I spent the first part of the new year with the flu. In retrospect, I realize I should have seen it coming as I began experiencing symptoms as early as the week before Christmas. In fact, I spent all of Christmas Day and the days after in bed completely exhausted, but otherwise free of any symptoms. A week later, the flu hit me like a ton of bricks, with every symptom I can think of, and it lingered for another week after that.

As can be expected, I suppose, I spent most of that time sleeping and a lot of the rest of it grumbling and complaining about how crummy I felt.

It’s no surprise that complaining about the flu does nothing to get rid of the flu.

So, after two weeks of discomfort and an additional week of full-on miserableness, I decided I was going to make up my mind to fake it until I made it, so to speak.  With the fever gone, I went to work determined to stay upbeat and ignore my lingering cough and runny nose to the best of my abilities and have a good day despite being sick.

It worked so well that I decided to dedicate my entire New Year’s resolution to it. So this year, I resolve to be more positive.

It sounds like a vague goal, but when you think about it, it encompasses a wide range of resolutions. It’s amazing how many parts of your life can be so much better when you just set your mind to believing they will be. With the flu, I felt physically and emotionally better with the determination that I was going to kick it.

The same can work for a number of other resolutions that made my list. With a more positive outlook, it becomes easier to pursue a healthy lifestyle. Positivity will also help to strengthen friendships and make new friends.

I think a more positive outlook will improve my confidence, which will help me meet new people, aspire to higher goals and overcome some fears.

Basically, focusing on becoming more optimistic will just make my life better. I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

Ambrosia Neldon is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com.