Help Me, Help You

It’s officially December 2^nd.  I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by – I feel like I was just in my bathing suit shifting positions under the July sun, selfishly hoping for an even tan to take over my body, with no sunblock to be found. Not to mention Halloween AND Thanksgiving have already come and gone, and my 29th birthday is only two months away.

With that being said,  I feel like I haven’t had much time to get done all the important things on my to-do list. You know the typical things you write down on paper, subconsciously knowing you’re going to put off until after the holidays. (1. make my 6 month cleaning appointment at the dentist, 2. make my eye doctor appointment, 3. clean out my closet and donate half the wardrobe I never wear, 4. convince myself it’s okay to part with 6 out of my ten pairs of black leggings and 15 out of my 20 pairs of jeans, 5. practice more yoga 6. mediate more, 7. call relatives I haven't spoken to in a while, 7. save more money, 8. do something for a good cause. 9. Start using sunscreen and more organic, anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, preventative cleansers and creams for my face, and the list goes on.)

I have often wondered why I can never seem to get these things done.  Is it because I work 9-5 and sit in over an hour of traffic each way and am so tired by the time I get home?  Is it because I spend a good hour complaining each day about the aforementioned?  Is it because I just don’t know how to manage my time?  Or is it because I’m honestly the most unorganized person in the free world?  It could be any of these things, but I’ve decided to make a change in my life. It’s time to make more time.

I came to this conclusion not too long ago, but now I’m so glad I did.  It started when I was approached by the property manager of my office building who is running a Christmas toy drive for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.  I picked a little 4 year old girl off the list, and I made it a point to shop for her and find the best gifts I could get, praying to myself that I could help make her holiday season a little brighter.  In typical Holly fashion, though, I pushed shopping for her off until the last possible minute… Literally, I was at the store the night before in a panic that I wouldn’t be able to find what she needed.  But that’s not the point.  The point I’m trying to make is I did something I’ve always wanted to do, and it felt so good.  It obviously felt good helping someone else, but it felt so satisfying knowing I crossed something off my to-do list.  Thus, I felt a tad bit more organized in my life, something that never really happens.

So the moral of my little story is this : Make resolutions and try to stick to them.  Do things that make you happy - do things that make others happy.  Do things that will better your life in the long run.  Stop putting off those annoying doctor’s appointments, stop putting off the gym, and start doing the things that make for a healthy, successful, and less stressed version of you. That’s what I’m going to try to do, and I’m not going to wait until January 1^st to do so.  I’m starting now.  I'm starting right here.  I’m starting with the little girl that I helped out. And as I write this post, I begin to wonder if this little girl knows that she is really the one who helped me...