Hello Internet!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! If you’re like me, you’re still recovering from Black Friday and you’ve had enough Turkey leftovers to last the whole month of the year. It’s crazy to think that 2017 is winding down and 2018 is outside knocking on the window. But before we say goodbye to 2017 and start 2018, we still have to enjoy December and Winter and Christmas. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE Christmas and I’m super excited for it. I’m also excited about some changes that is coming to the website. I don’t know all the details yet, but there will be some changes in the posting order as well as a new aesthetic if everything goes according to my plan. I’ll let you know more as things solidify. I do know that I will be ending these monthly updates around my New Year’s Resolutions. I have had a blast sharing my Resolutions and my updates with you, but I think it’s something that is pretty low on everyone’s priority order. I feel like I can use the time and effort I put into these monthly updates into something else you’ll enjoy more, so that’s the plan. Speaking of which, as 2017 comes to a close, I will be reviewing all of the posts I’ve published here and gauge people’s interest in them. Going forward, I’ll be tailoring my posts a bit to the audience (that’s you) to make sure that you will enjoy the stuff I write. Basically, I will be looking at the views, likes, comments, and shares on my posts to see what is popular and what is not. So if you want me to continue writing something or you really like a particular piece, make sure you go back and give it a like or leave a comment. This way I’ll know what you want you want to read. If this is your first time reading my stuff, thank you! I hope you give this Weekly Blog a like and then go check out the other stuff I’ve written. There are Weekly Blogs, Chapters of Pokemon Fanfiction, and Writing Prompt Inspired Pieces. No matter what you like to read, I’m sure you can find something you’d enjoy! If you are a longtime viewer of the website, hello again and thank you for your support. I really appreciate all the support; both old and new!
Now before I get to the actual Blog post about my New Year’s Resolutions (I know these intros are long), I want to quickly remind you that this is a continuation of a series. My original Weekly Blog post about my New Year’s Resolutions can be found here. You can also read each monthly entry if you’d like or you can just check out November 1st’s update here if you don’t want to read through all the other updates. Ok let’s get on with it (I hear the people chant).
My first New Year’s Resolution for 2017 is to write more. As you may know from my other posts or as you may assume, the want to write more things lead me to starting this website. I always had ideas in my heads of short stories, quotes, or scenes, but I never wrote anything down. I decided that in 2017 I was going to write it all down. I started publishing things in January of this year and to this date I’ve published a total of 148 different pieces (including this one). In July I hit piece number 100, and I’ll reach 150 early in December. I went from writing exactly zero things down to writing 150+ pieces in a year. That’s crazy to me. What’s even more crazy; however, is that people around the world are actually reading the things I’ve written. It just amazes me that people in India, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Brasil, Canada, and The United States have actually read the things I’ve written. I know that I write a lot about my appreciation for my audience and it may begin to sound like just a line I say, but it’s completely true. I really do appreciate everyone who reads my things, leaves a comment, and gives my pieces a like. Seeing the number of views, likes, and comments on my pieces rise, truly makes my day. All of the success I’ve had only exists because of people like you, and I remind myself of that every day.
My second resolution is that I want to be a positive force in the world as well as keeping a positive disposition on life. Now life isn’t perfect and there are tons of ups and downs, but in the low moments, I try to keep a positive outlook on things. Being happy 100% of the time is an unrealistic goal and would never happen, but I can be happy for what I have and focus on the good times instead of the bad. When there are cloudy days, I try to look for the silver lining. It doesn’t always happen, but I try to keep a positive aurora around me. Now there has been a lot of stress in these past few weeks and I’ve been feeling down a lot. It’s a bad combination of negative emotions that’s been dragging me down. I haven’t really bounced back that well, but it’s all a process. Some times I’m going to do really well and other times I’m going to fail. That’s life. That’s something I have to get used to. The other part of my resolution is that I want to be a positive force in the world and the life of others. There’s a lot of negativity out there; especially on the internet. So I’m trying to change that. I’m trying to put more positive out into the world than negative. I can’t really be a good judge of how I’m doing with this part of the resolution, but I think I’m doing well. I guess I’ll let you decide if you think that this website is a positive force on the internet.
My next resolution is that I want to be more adventurous in my life. This resolution is also split into two parts. The first part is that I want to go on more literal adventures in my life. The second part is that I want to have a more adventurous attitude towards new things in my life. This resolution is kind of a mixed bag for the month of November. Honestly, not much in my life has changed. I’m currently looking for new employment, but I have not found a new job. I’m still single (and ready to mingle). Nothing has changed. I am trying to seek out new opportunities, but so far my rut is continuing. I talked about this last month, but basically I’m in a life rut and it really dampens my attitude and affects Resolution #2. I’m not really sure what to do to get out of this rut, but I’m hoping that it comes to an end shortly. Again I try to stay positive and keep up my adventurous attitude towards anything new coming my way, but there’s not really that much happening. When it comes to literal adventures, I haven’t really been able to go adventuring. Most of my time is taken up by work, or sleeping, or writing. Not a lot of time for adventures. I’m actually looking forward to the winter weather and the possible snowy hikes in the woods. Hopefully I can take advantage of December’s winter weather and go on some adventures.
My fourth and final New Year’s Resolution is that I want to be healthier. This resolution focuses on both my physical health and my mental health. In 2017 I focused on my diet as well as exercise. I try to eat a lot more leafy greens, vegetables, and fruits rather than empty calories and sugar. If you read my other Weekly Blog posts, you’ll know that I am approaching three years without pop/soda and that’s something I’m really proud of. I used to drink a lot of pop and I loved it. I didn’t think I would ever give up drinking it, but here I am and a lot healthier for it. Now when I’m at work, I drink only water and I try to eat healthier. I eat a lot of chicken and pasta which is mildly healthy compared to other options at my disposal. I still love eating chocolate and sweet things, but I try to cut back and be conscience of what I’m putting into my body. When it comes to exercise, I’m kind of all over the place. I’ll have days at work where I’m running around and getting my heart rate up, and then there’s days where I’ll just sit behind my desk all day and not get a lot of exercise. I’m trying to get better about it; however, I never did get any type of gym membership like I talked about. A lack of effort, interest, and money all teamed up to keep that from happening, but I guess there’s always next year. I also focus on my mental health which ties in with my second resolution. Again there’s a lot of ups and downs. I have some good days and some bad days. It’s kind of a mixed bag. Altogether I try to talk to people when I have problems instead of just pushing it down until it forms into an iron ball of negativity and it ends up dragging me down farther. It’s a work in progress, but it’s good to have a starting point and goals to work on going forward.
So that’s my summary for the month of November. Altogether I give November a “Meh out of 10” on how well I did at achieving my goals. Too many meh days mixed with stress and being busy lead to November being a wash. But that’s ok. Time to pick myself up and work really hard on December. We’re coming to the end of 2017 and to the start of 2018. At the end of this month, I can reflect on December as well as 2017 as a whole. Maybe I’ll be surprised on how far I’ve come or maybe I will just have to shrug my shoulders and work on my goals. Soon it will be time to create new goals for the new year and work hard on completing those. I just want to remind you that you don’t have to wait until January 1st, 2018. You can start right now. Or maybe tomorrow. Just set some realistic goals for yourself surrounding something you want to improve about yourself and then find a way to achieve them. I’m not an expert my any means, but I can tell you that setting goals that are realistic, but not too easy is important. You need to find that balance. Start on these goals one step at a time and then you can look back on all the improvement you’ve made. Maybe it will take months, or years, or even a lifetime, but if you start today and work hard, you will see progress you can be proud of. Just think about what you want to improve and what you want to focus on in 2018. Set that as your target and then get after it. I know you can do it! I believe in you!
That’s all I want to say about New Year’s Resolutions and goals. If you enjoyed this Weekly Blog or just my personality in general, feel free to give this post a like. Or maybe leave a comment down below about what goals you are working on now or what goals you’re planning to work on in 2018. Also don’t forget to check out the other pieces on my website. If there’s something you really like, give it a like or leave me a comment on the piece telling me that you like it. That way I know what pieces you enjoy and can keep that in mind when deciding what to write in 2018. Thank you again for your support whether this is your first time on the website or you’ve been reading my stuff since January.
I really appreciate and I hope you have a fantastic week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to TimeAndDate.com
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/december.html
Allen The Writer 