I love the New Year. Not so much for the hype or for the party, but for the chance to step back and think about resolutions and the change that I hope to bring about for the upcoming year. Up until last year my previous New Year’s resolutions would often consist of working out five days a week, doing sit-ups every morning before walking out the door, and cutting out sugar for the entire year. Needless to say, these resolutions were a bit overly-ambitious for my ice-cream-loving self.

Last year I made a resolution that was a little bit different. I’m a serious sucker for sunrises. I love feeling like I’m awake before the rest of the world, and I enjoy the extra time in my day that I give myself with an early start. I resolved to see more sunrises in 2015. Just one week into January I accepted a long-term sub position that required me to be at James Madison HS by 6:50 every day, and I witnessed the sun rising over the trees as I drove down Beulah Road many mornings. That weekend, on what felt like the coldest morning in history, my friend Kate and I ventured to DC to watch a sunrise from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Shortly thereafter, after hoping and envisioning a potential opportunity coming to fruition, Clay and I accepted job offers from Kailua Beach Adventures in Kailua, Hawaii – on the easterly side of Oahu. Since April of 2015, my sunrise viewing has become a little more epic. While maybe all of this was just coincidence, I like to think that a little bit of intention can truly go a long way.

This year, my New Year’s resolution is discipline. Discipline in working towards my long-term goals as well as discipline in day-to-day health and wellness. For me in my day-to-day health, this means going to yoga after a 10 hour day at work and being on the water, and replacing my after-dinner ice cream with post-dinner hot tea. In regard to my long-term goals, my list includes becoming a certified yoga instructor (along with holding crazy gravity-defying yogi poses), becoming fluent in Spanish, and writing a book. This year on New Year’s Day I worked my first shift as a “Studio Experience Team Member”, my new gig that Clay prefers to deem “yoga janitor”. (Glamorous sounding, isn’t it?!) With yoga classes being a pricey hobby these days, I was thrilled to learn of the work-trade opportunity at the yoga studio directly across the street from my studio apartment. This new opportunity allows me to clean the studio for an hour and a half each week in exchange for access to unlimited yoga! What makes it even better is that this hour and a half of me-time is the perfect opportunity to listen to my Pimsleur Spanish lessons, helping me to progress towards my long-term goals each week. I am pleased to announce that another aspect of my discipline resolution will include more (and more regular) blogs. I am looking forward to more opportunities to share stories and ideas, to gain more writing experience, and to hear feedback from all of you wonderful people. The idea of beginning a blog was in-fact inspired by my goal to one day write a book. It was my dear friend Ross – entrepreneur, whitewater kayak extraordinaire, and sarcasm guru – who I am asking to write a guest blog entry(!) – who encouraged me to go all-in by creating my very own domain name.

Some of us may be big-time New Year’s resolutioners (who knew that “resolutioner” is in the dictionary?!), and some of us may not. For those of us who find ourselves without a resolution, yet wanting one, or maybe just lacking a little inspiration and motivation, it’s not too late to ignite change in the New Year! This year in December when I thought about where I am now in respect to the things that I want to achieve, I reverted back to a list that I made on December 31, 2014. On that New Year’s Eve, Clay and I went out to dinner and I surprised him by bringing two pieces of paper and two pens. We set a timer for ten minutes agreed to write down 50 things that we wanted to achieve in this life. It was fun, and it got us thinking about all of life’s possibilities and the things we can achieve. Living in Hawaii and seeing the Northern Lights were just two of the things I managed to check off this year. Some things to remain include Hiking the PCT, running another half marathon – faster, and training a Seeing Eye dog. Clay and I both carry our lists in our wallets, and surely enough becoming a certified yoga teacher, speaking Spanish fluently, and writing a book remain on my list for now. But not for forever! Whether you have your resolutions and are consciously aware of your life ambitions or not, I encourage you to try it!

Please feel free to share your resolutions or intentions that y’all have for the New Year. For now, I just have to get used to writing the date as year 2016! Happy New Year, friends!