16 ways to be a better you
January 11, 2016
- Figure your life out — so what if you’ll probably change your mind? It’s good to have a goal and to work toward something in your life. As long as it’s realistic. You can’t be Taylor Swift or date Zayn. Sorry ‘bout it.
- Go on adventures — what are you doing if you’re not discovering the world? You don’t even have to leave your neighborhood. Study the shrubbery in your neighbor’s yard. Check out that creek down the street that you used to play at when you were a child. Just make sure you don’t end up like “Bridge to Terabithia’s” Leslie Burke. The world can not take another tragedy.
- Be versatile — adapt to any change that may come your way rather than freaking out and causing a ruckus. Your friends cancel your plans last minute? Life happens. Netflix and chill it out. You have the opportunity to be promoted at your job? This is the Land of Opportunity and it’s knocking, so answer. Amazing things happen when you don’t stay hung up on the past.
- Learn new things — ignorance isn’t always bliss. Take a pottery class. Pick up a camera and start shooting. Figure out how to gracefully stick that backflip you’ve been telling yourself you’d learn since third grade.
- Talk to people — in the era of social media, why are so many of us isolated? Instead of chilling out behind your computer or on your phone, use your legs to get up and walk over to someone and have an actual conversation. Please leave out the word “lit.” Oh, and no one cares about how “fire” your mixtape is. We know, it’s so much work. What a hard life.
- However if you’re going to talk about your mixtape, ACTUALLY MAKE A MIXTAPE — dabble a little bit in the art of producing and composing music. If you don’t think it’s fire, don’t talk about it. Ever. The world would probably be a better place.
- Face your fears head on — everyone is scared of something and how can you adequately live your life if you’re constantly on the look-out for spiders or clowns or axe murderers. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.
- Better yourself — okay, this is the whole idea of this article but it’s really important. We all face struggles. Whether it’s anxiety, depression, body image problems or any other kind of disability or disorder, you can’t let it define you. You are not your struggles and you need to own that. Life is not, nor will it ever be easy and that is okay. We wouldn’t be living if we weren’t facing some kind of conflict. But we can get through this and we will be triumphant.
- That being said, be healthy — partying is fun and all, but don’t forget to take care of yourself. Try to sleep eight hours each night and DRINK WATER. It doesn’t have near as much caffeine as coffee, but it does revitalize your organs which seems to be important.
- Be passionate — find something you enjoy doing and don’t stop doing it. If you enjoy underwater basket weaving, do it every chance you get. Are you good at re-enacting famous battle scenes from the Civil War? Great, try battles from World War I next.
- Step outside of your comfort zone — someone famous once said that you aren’t learning if you’re not outside of your comfort zone. This doesn’t need any more explanation.
- Be honest — with yourself, your friends, your parents, your cockatiel, everyone. Figure out who you are. Don’t let people walk all over you, but don’t lie to them to spare their feelings. If that dress is hideous, tell them. If your parents made you feel worthless while they were lecturing you about have a B in AP Calculus BC, tell them. But don’t forget to be honest about good things as well. People deserve to know when you like their outfit or if you think they’re the coolest dang thing since sliced bread.
- Stop caring what other people think — over analyzing people’s opinions of you every second of the day is a horrible way to live. At the end of the day, YOU are the one that has to live in your body, not that teacher that you’re pretty sure hates you, or that girl that glares at you every time you walk past her even though she doesn’t know your name. You have to love yourself.
- Treat yourself — indulge. That bowl of ice cream has 500 calories? Okay. That’s 500 calories of heavenly ice cream that your stomach could be happily digesting right now if you stopped reducing yourself to numbers. Buy that new outfit that makes you look like a million bucks. Stay up all night watching “The Walking Dead.” LIVE YOUR LIFE.
- Work hard to play hard — to live a full life and actually appreciate it, you do have to work for it. If your parents want you to have a 4.0 GPA before you can go on your senior trip, make it happen. You haven’t done your homework yet? “The Walking Dead” can wait. Don’t miss out on amazing things just because you want to be lazy.
- Discover what success means to you — money isn’t everything. Sometimes success is just being able to get out of bed in the morning, or helping someone through a rough patch. Find out what makes you feel happy and successful, then do it.
