*This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through affiliate links help support this website.*
I can’t believe that 2017 is here already!? It seems like just yesterday, I was sitting down, thinking of my goals and aspirations for 2016, and now here I am again, starting fresh for 2017. Time flies when you’re having fun 🙂
Last year at this time, instead of making a list of New Years Resolutions, I made a promise:
A promise to always be true to myself, believe in myself, and to always forgive myself. A promise to always remember my values, what I stand for, and what I fight for. A promise to be my own champion, and biggest supporter. Most importantly, a promise to love myself and others.
I mentioned that if I held true to this promise, all of my desires would be bound to happen — 2016 was bound to be perfect. And perfect it was! 2016 amounted to amazing things for me…things that I never thought possible.
2016
For the first time, in a long time, I can say that I am truly happy. I have found joy. Joy in my family, my friends, my faith, and most importantly, joy in myself. That was a missing component in my life for a long time.
I stopped caring about what others had to say about me, and I let go of the need to be perfect. Being perfect is a heavy burden to carry. Sometimes we hold ourselves to such high standards that we lose ourselves in the process. We become what society says we should be. We become who our friends, and even our family, want us to be. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make others happy. But we have to save a little of that for ourselves.
2016 has been a year of metamorphosis. Embracing myself for who I am, and allowing that person to grow into the butterfly that she always longed to be. Traveling back and forth to Youtube every week, meeting my body positive hero Tess Holliday, working at theCURVYcon, taking these pictures, starting my own business….2016 Maya never imagined all this would happen. I would be remised if I didn’t mention how thankful I am to have had you guys along the way. I read each and everyone of your comments, and I am so blessed to have your love.
As 2016 comes to an end, I had to take a moment and look back at all we’ve accomplished together. Everything that we experience in life serves a significant purpose. Maybe not now, but sometime in the future.
Like this dress. I received this Metallic Side Knot Dress from Eloquii exactly a year ago. As you can imagine, I fell absolutely in love with it! Only, I could not wear it because I had hip surgery….and a cain and crutches were not the type of accessories I was hoping to wear with it. As you can imagine, I was disappointed, but I also made a promise to myself that I would wear it the ‘next new year.’ This may sound stupid, but I didn’t realize the emotional connection I had to this dress until I put it on and immediately began to cry. I realized that this was a ‘full circle’ moment for me, and thus perfectly summed up my entire 2016. The things that you desire or want in life, may not happen when you want them, but they will happen on time. When you are truly ready.
2017
As we enter into 2017, I again promise to always be true to myself, believe in myself, and to always forgive myself. A promise to always remember my values, what I stand for, and what I fight for. A promise to be my own champion, and biggest supporter. Most importantly, I promise to love myself and others. I encourage you to take a moment to think about the past year. Remember all the moments that you’ve experienced — both good and bad — and cherish them. Think about the significance of each one of those moments, perhaps there’s a ‘full circe moment’ that you haven’t realized?
What is your 2017 promise? What are you hoping to accomplish and learn from this year? Let me know!
Until Next Time,
<3
