Happy 2023!
How many days into a new year can you still say "Happy New Year"? Well, I'm going to keep saying it for a while because I'm so happy to be out of 2022. That year was HARD. F that year.
I started my new year's resolutions a bit early. I quit my job and began a business in December. And while I'm not the type to make new year's resolutions (I actually prefer to do them on my birthday), there has been a saying I've been joking about with my family that seems appropriate for a resolution.
"Fuck the Rules!"
As you might imagine, starting a business is expensive. I was having a minor panic attack about buying an expensive sewing machine. I'd been researching for a month, decided on the model I wanted and place to go buy it. Then my mom suggested we go look at the cheap ones at the craft store; buy a cheap one now, then upgrade when sales start coming in. Makes sense, except I already have a cheap one in decent working condition. If I was going to go that route, I didn't need a new one at all.
On the way home from the craft store I was trying to explain my reasoning behind wanting to spend money, technically credit, rather than do the more sensible thing of minimizing debt.
I've followed the rules my whole life. I've done everything I was told I was supposed to do. And were has that gotten me? Stressed out and depressed and starting all over, yet again. I feel like I've got nothing to show for the life I've lived, yet I'm exhausted. I've worked hard and followed all the best advice of how to succeed, and I'm so good at following the rules. And it's gotten me nowhere.
Because I've always played it safe. I've never taken any risks. I've never jumped without a safety net and forced myself to make it work or else. I wasn't ready before. But it's time. I'm ready to fuck all the rules, and start living my life how I want to live it. Not how anyone else tells me I'm supposed to. As the saying goes, "Fortune favors the bold."
So, welcome 2023! This will be the year I break the rules, break the misconceptions of how things are supposed to be, and finally break free.
