It is officially 2017 and in a way I’m sad to be saying goodbye to such an incredible year. In 2016, one of my resolutions for the year was to start saying ‘yes’ more often. I have always remained in this little comfort zone bubble, but I knew I needed to get out of it and quit letting anxiety get the best of me. When anyone asks to hang out or to go do something it’s sooo easy to say ‘no thank you’ and just sit around at home searching the internet….its more comfortable that way, for me at least. However, you never realize how much you’re missing out on until you actually say yes to whatever activity it is, and then see how much better you feel afterwards because you did something different. Even if it may not have been a great time and you would have rather been at home watching netflix, it’s never a bad thing to get out there. You can always learn something and grow as a person through whatever situation. 

An example of this… It was about a month or so ago and I had gotten off work and realized that i needed to do something other than sitting around at home, even though the only thing i felt like doing was laying in bed. I looked on my AllTrails app and found a beach park to go to. As I was walking along the beach, I crossed paths with this middle aged woman who was walking her dog. She started making conversation with me and with my introverted nature, my initial reaction was to say a couple words and then dip out, however, she invited me to walk with her a mile or so around the beach. I was going to politely say no thanks and walk back to my car, yet I had that thought in the back of my head to just say ‘yes’…and so that’s what i did. This lady and I walked for about an hour along the beach just talking about everything, and it was the most refreshing thing. She was telling me how she loved talking to strangers and just learning more about them, and her whole energy was just very inspiring to me. I remember driving home and just thinking, “Wow…I’m so happy I did that”.  It was a super simple thing, but it’s an experience I wouldn’t have had if I would’ve just stayed at home.

So…2017…my resolution for you is nothing but the same–personal growth and taking action. Goodbye 2016, its been too real.