Hello January: Realistic Resolutions

We're already 5 days into January and I can't help but feel super underwhelmed and demotivated at the fact that 2016 is upon us and yet I can't seem to really put my finger on anything hopeful or new years resolution-y to inspire me for the year ahead.

I think in part, this may be due to the fact that I have a very real alternate preferred reality in my head in which I am living the life I have always dreamed of, and the fact that this is currently not happening in real life is pretty distressing. I'm afraid to say this alternate reality is horridly fuelled by candid tumblr pictures of moleskin journals and disposable cameras, but I feel inclined to share it with you nonetheless. It goes something like this:

I am in my twenties (so far so good), and I live in Amsterdam (oh). I reside in a narrow apartment down one of the many 'straats' on the canal. The decor is minimalist, whites greys and blacks ease into each other in a sort of linear pattern that is pleasing to the eye, occasionally interspersed by a cool house plant, probably a cactus or a bonsai. I spend my days exploring the city and reading books to fuel my avid journal-writing habit, which eventually of course will be made into some profound memoir or adventure novel. Being the creative literary sort that I am, I like to wear vintage clothes, and am able to do my eyeliner in that particular style that screams 'I have my life together'. My diet consists mainly of avocado and coffee, and I get taken out on cute dates by the gorgeous barista in my favourite coffee shop not coffeeshop with the round glasses.

Snap back to reality (oh hi Eminem) and besides coffee being a genuine staple component of my diet, I am doing none of these things. Alas, the reality is that I am consistently getting out of bed approximately 90 minutes after my original alarm goes off, slaving over mixed ANOVA statistical tests (yeah I don't know exactly what it is either) and I haven't left the house in 3 days.

Considering the vast disparity between my ideal and actual life right now, any sort of "new year new me!" malarkey just doesn't seem feasible, because my reality simply doesn't allow for it. So whilst I could wallow in the thoughts of my would-be life, and get even more depressed by undertaking new years resolutions to journey towards this unrealistic likelihood, I have taken it upon myself to create a list of 6 "realistic resolutions" to minimally improve my current existence in the doldrums that is the month of January. So here we go, dear Eve...

1. Start actually getting changed out of your pyjamas into normal clothes in the morning even if you don't intend on leaving the house. Sometimes just looking like a productive person can make you more productive.

2. Replace some of the time you spend watching youtube/netflix with listening to podcasts or music and using your cool colouring book you got for your birthday.

3. Play more card games and board games with your friends and family because they're fun and you're super competitive and therefore will win. Always.

4. Take incremental steps towards being more vulnerable with people, because you're crap at it and it might (maybe potentially probably not) do you good.

5. Begin to realise that success in academia or jobs or earthly things is not the be all and end all, in fact, train yourself to recognise that its merely a tiny portion of your life.

6. Stop stressing over the life you wish you lead and enjoy the one you have despite all the revision and assignments and early mornings because being happy is better than being down.

Okay so 4, 5 and 6 are probably less realistic than 1, 2 and 3, but lets face it, they're a lot more realistic than my Amsterdam utopia.

So there we have it. In the horrendous torture that is January exams, and assignments, and going back to work, and crying at all the weight you've inevitably gained over christmas (etc etc), maybe the thing we need to realise is that whilst our ideal situations seem to be a long way off, it doesn't mean we can't take achievable incremental steps towards bettering our own situations. Because sometimes all super ambitious resolutions do is just make us feel disheartened at our failed efforts.

HA! This got deep real quick, yet this blog post actually made some form of coherent motivational sense... *pats self on back and returns to Netflix to watch Making a Murderer, thus failing resolution 2*