It's the new year! I can't believe it's already 2013. It's my last year of being a teenager, and by this summer, I'll be halfway through my college education! Where has the time gone?
As we rang in the New Year, I tried to think of what I wanted to accomplish this year. For the last six years I've written a list of New Year's resolutions, but I've found that I rarely accomplish any of them. After about a week, my list gets tucked away in a box somewhere and forgotten until the year ends.
Of course, I still have goals for this year. Like most people, I'd like to eat better. I'd love to exercise more. It'd be great if I could read a certain number of books, or spend a specific amount of time practicing the piano, but I'm not holding my breath. There is excitement in setting unrealistic goals, in looking at another year as something brand new, bright with possibility, but I don't want to end 2013 in disappointment.
This year, I'll have one goal for myself: I want to be better and I want to make the world better. Wasn't that always what I was aiming for anyways? When we set goals for ourselves, isn't that really what we're trying to get at? I know that my impact will be small, and that I will touch very few people (if any), but when 2014 rolls around, I'd like to be able to say that it was a good year, and that there are people in this world who are better for having lived it.
That being said, I'd like to start off 2013 with another good deed! Luckily, one of my very close friends from home will be spending her winter break volunteering in an orphanage in Thailand (I have very kind friends! :) ), and she reached out for anyone who would like to send school supplies and other items for the children there. Here's a picture of what I'll be sending with her. Hopefully they can use these things to make the year great!