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!