And I Still Can't Refold a Newspaper

Some people set resolutions each new year and we know how those tend to turn out. I try to set goals that I hope to accomplish by December 31st, and if I don't, I add them to the next year's. Over the years I have resolved to wear my retainers (I now do), floss daily (I feel gross now if I don't), and properly refold a newspaper (still working on that.) I set these goals to improve myself, and I'm all for continuous improvement, but I often forget to simply like myself. I may have done some awful things to people over the years, but I guarantee that I have treated myself much worse.

This year my goal is to always treat myself the way I would treat my best friend. It seems simple and obvious, but I challenge you to do the same. I would never tell my best friend she was fat and lazy and not worthy of love or affection. I would never tell her to get blindingly drunk and to have sex with an emotional stranger. (Just because you spent the past six years partying with a person does not mean that you know him. This is what we call an emotional stranger. You know the basics, you might even know specifics about him or his performance in bed from others, but you have never had an intimate, sober conversation with him.) I wouldn't let a crappy boyfriend make her feel bad about herself or let her sit alone at night regretting decisions she has made. If I wouldn't treat my best friend this way, why do I do this to myself? There is actually no justification for this so in the year 2011, I am going to be the best friend I can be to myself (not that I don't have a really good one already, because I do. She's awesome.)

I've spent a lot of time in bed watching DVR'd episodes of crappy television recently (hooray debilitating throat illnesses!), and my guilty pleasure One Tree Hill had this cheesy line about happiness being an emotion, not a destination. I think we each make the choice to be happy each day, but the way we treat others and ourselves helps us make this decision. I am choosing to treat myself better so that I can choose to be happy each day. Tomorrow I'll work on this newspaper folding business... unless anyone wants to buy me an iPad.