Resolutions: why I fail at them and why this year will be different.

Hello followers. God, that sounds egocentric. Let's try that again. Hello friends :)

Are you excited for the New Year? I am. To me, the new year is like a chance at a new life. The first day of January is the opportunity that we've all been waiting for - an opportunity to turn over a fresh leaf. Often, in our excitement over the end of our old life and the beginning of the new, we make Resolutions. Resolutions with a capital R. We make them, and they dictate what our perfect new life will be like. That's New Years Day. Then, on the second day of January, we make a mistake... and if you're like me, a total perfectionist, then that's it. It's all or nothing, baby! Once you've made a mistake, why carry on? It's not going to be perfect, so there's really no point anymore.

This time, I've got the one-up on myself though. Because, top of the list of Resolutions, is the perfect conquerer of perfectionism - the Resolution to be less of a perfectionist.

Now that I've got that out of the way, it's time to get on with the proper Resolutions. They're mainly practical - you know, get a job tutoring primary school students, spend no more that $4/week on lollies (I have a notoriously sweet tooth), do at least 30 minutes of music practice a day. But then I stopped, and thought. Because something really weird has been happening to me lately:

I keep feeling the urge to compliment strangers on their clothes.

Odd, isn't it? But I thought, and thought. And I realised it would be a fantastic starting-point for an immeasurable Resolution: a resolution to be nicer. Properly nicer. I know, everyone always makes that resolution. And then fails at it, because it's immeasurable; you can't NOT fail. But this time is different, because I am making niceness semi-measurable. To me, there's nothing nicer than a compliment from a stranger. For example, today after going shopping and buying a beautiful sundress, I walked into The Body Shop to be complimented on my gorgeous dress by three shop assistants simultaneously. It made my day. So why not pass it on?

And that is why, friends, I am going to be a better person this year. Because when I feel a spontaneous little urge to talk to a complete stranger about their awesome fashion sense, I'm going to follow it. Everyone loves spontaneity. Everyone loves compliments. Everyone wins!

Me + Blogging: a flashback

Every now and then something will remind me about the world of blogging. Perhaps it's a snippet of conversation, or a glimpse of a webpage. Whatever it is, it will often get me thinking about how awesome it would be to write a blog. I visualise myself being effortlessly hilarious, entertaining, engaging, amusing and other excellent synonyms. I see myself watching as the page view count on my blog reaches the millions. I imagine Nina H, local celebrity, international success and blogger extraordinaire.

For about half and hour I'll be in a haze of excitement; I search eagerly through countless blogging websites, finally choosing the one that will lead me to the blogging hall of fame. I sign up, choose the look which I think most suits the incredible awesomeness which my blog will unfailingly become, and write my first blog post. After 5 minutes of hyper-writing I sigh contentedly, click "Publish Post" and lean back in my chair to contemplate my own genius in starting what will undoubtedly be an overnight success. Then I click onto Facebook, do my chores and play some music. After this point, the blog will probably never touch my mind again. If, by some miraculous chance, it does reappear from the depths of my brain I will consider writing another post before deciding it's too much effort and going off to play some more CityVille.

There is really no reason why this blog will be any different. It has started the same as those five or six other blogs, which have all disappeared into the recesses of the internet, never to be seen again. However, I believe that this blog will be different. The reason being that it is currently the 30th of December - 2 days until I make my New Years Resolutions. Once it is a Resolution, this blog will become a permanent fixture in my life. For the next two day, then, I just have to remember it. ...So maybe it's not that different after all.