New Year, New Me

It’s hard to believe, but 2023 is coming to a close. With the holidays and the painfully short winter break around the corner, 2024 will be here before we know it. You know what that means: people are starting to reflect on their past year and think about what their goals are for 2024 – New Year’s resolutions are in the air. 

I’m quite serious about New Year’s resolutions. In fact, I’m so determined to follow through with them, that I’ve already planned out how a typical day is going to look for me after the ball drops in Times Square in order to make sure I follow every single resolution I’ve made. 

I’ll wake up in the morning at 6 AM on the dot, miraculously well-rested and happy. No, I don’t feel like there are rocks weighing down my head and like my eyelids are made of metal because I went to bed last night at 10 PM sharp and fell asleep in fifteen minutes. I laugh in the face of kids who go to bed past 11 PM because I’m special and get my beauty sleep every night.

My sleep schedule is now so consistent I don’t even need my phone alarm. In fact, my phone was in another room because I’ve been successfully doing a social media detox. I don’t even look at my phone or computer after 9 PM.

As soon as I wake up, I freshen up and begin my intense morning workout. Today is leg day. I do many squats, lunges, and other workouts that would generally make one ache with pain. I’m not the same person I was last year, who would suspiciously get a stomach ache right before working out. I will follow my resolution to work out every day, and, in fact, it will feel great. I tell myself good job before hopping in the shower. 

Because I am so efficient with time, by the time all of this is done, it’s only 7 AM. I laid out my clothes the previous night, so I have my casual-yet-chic outfit ready. No more trying on outfits for twenty minutes in the morning, only to pick one of the same five hoodies I’ve been recycling. That was 2023 me! 

I leave my house, never forgetting my ID, and go to school. In admin, chuckling, I walk past the long line of students in line to get a sticker. I used to be them. 

In class, I take aesthetic notes, highlighting important information in different colors from my twelve pack of pastel highlighters, obviously in perfect condition. I silently laugh at the person next to me, barely hanging on and scribbling the notes from two slides ago. 

During lunch, I don’t join the long lines of students lined up for the snack bar. Instead, I open my neatly packed, nutritious salad and enjoy the meal. And for dessert, some delicious cantaloupe, of course. Spending my money on muffins and Snapple to get rid of my daily stress is a thing of the past. 

After my wonderful day at school and after school activities, I finally get home around 6 PM. I immediately sit down and begin my homework. I cannot even imagine opening my phone as soon as I get home and scrolling for hours, I think. I cut that habit easily.

I work fast and get downstairs in time for dinner. I also have time to practice my instrument and prepare my to-do list for the next day. I have downloaded a to-do list app that I had actually downloaded last year, but pre-resolution, I never got around to using it. 

As my head hits the pillow at 10 PM, I take a quick look around my room to make sure it is completely spotless, but it always is. I admire my neat desk that was once overflowing with papers and used food bowls, thinking about how far I’ve come. My floor is not covered in clothes, and my bed is neatly made before I climb in. I drift off to sleep in my 2024 happiness.