As the year comes to a close, it becomes a good time to think back over the past year and look ahead for the year to come.

They’ll be all sorts of “best of” lists, like Barbara Walters Most Fascinating People of 2015 or the top 10 Vicksburg Post stories of the year to remind us of where we’ve been. This year was pretty good for me, I graduated college for the second time and I got a job. As every year does, it went by faster then the one before it.

I have a few resolutions for the coming year, mostly personal things I need to improve on doing. Mainly I just want to become myself again. It becomes easy sometimes to lose your identity in your job, and I have to consciously remember to do the things I love, even when the things I need to complete are on my mind.

I’d love to start reading as much as I used to again. It’s one of my all-time favorite activities, and it has gotten ignored recently. I’m just not the same for having let it go. I want to do yoga again, run and maybe go to the movies sometimes. I want to donate clothing and other items I don’t use as much anymore to someone who needs them. I’d really love to cook more, and I need to get my home organized.

I think we’d all like to take up more hobbies, learn more skills, have more experiences. Maybe if I had some more experiences I’d finally have something interesting to say in my column. My apologies to you poor, poor readers who have to suffer through my high school blog-like drivel every week.

The point is, we all have a lot of wishful thinking at the beginning. Whether it’s the beginning of a weekend, a vacation, a job or a new year, we tend to have expectations of how it’s going to go or how we want it to go.

Many times those expectations aren’t quite met. We can become disappointed and even depressed about not holding up our own end of the deal. I challenge everyone to hold tight to those resolutions and don’t let them slip through your fingers. Work hard to make them become reality. You’ll feel better about yourself.

Think about all the things you can change in your life to be the best you can be because life will pass you by if you let it. The beginning of something lets us realize dreams are attainable and not just for kids. We’re really never too old to start over.

There are so many factors we can not control, but trying feels better than giving up.

And when we can’t rise to meet our own expectations we have to learn to not be so hard on ourselves. Things don’t always work out and there are a million things we’ll never understand, but just try to take control of yourself and remember it could be worse. It really could.

Ok. Pep talk over. Be happy, be healthy, try to keep positive and love one another. Happy New Year!

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Alana Norris is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. Contact her at alana.norris@vicksburgpost.com.