The beginning of a new year always fills me with hope and excitement – it might sound childish, but I can’t help but feel as if I embarked on a new journey. Instead of focusing on resolutions and big decisions, I prefer to think of these few hours before 2016 as a packing process where I decide what to keep and what to leave out of my life’s suitcase. I don’t believe in “good” and “bad” years/moments/weeks – I think of life in terms of experiences. Every year offers us valuable lessons – it is up to us to process, evaluate and decide how they can help us grow and get closer to the person we wish to become. So, here is a list of the things I want to keep from 2015 and what I would happily say goodbye to!
- Kindness: I believe kindness and empathy should be at the core of our life (and obviously teaching). To me, it’s the only forward and the only way to remain compassionate, human beings.
- Love: Open your heart and teach kids to love, not be afraid of their emotions and care for others.
- Passion: Living every day to the fullest, even when you don’t feel like it. It’s really tough finding meaning to every moment we experience, but it’s so important not to let time -and life- slip through our hands.
- Creativity: Think of ideas, share moments of success and failure, innovate and make lots of mistakes!
- Inspiration: There have been so many people that inspired me last year and have influenced me! Hopefully, 2016 will also find me surrounded by amazing, inspiring people!
I will gladly say goodbye to:
- Negativity : There’s always a way to do things, even when it seems impossible to get everything done!
- Pessimism: I’m officially saying bye-bye to all those “yes, but”, nos and what-ifs all of us say when times get rough!
- Narrow-mindness: I wish we all became more understanding and appreciative of others and viewed people in terms of who they are, not who we wish they were.
- Fear: I’ve decided not to let my fears or other people’s fears get in my way! Instead, I’ve started embracing fear and accepting it as a normal part of challenge. Embracing our fears helps us overcome them!
- Ingratitude: Once again, I want my suitcase to be full of people who appreciate life, are thankful for who they are and enjoy having others around them!
