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Not Your Typical New Year's Resolutions



2016 is a big year for me and for most friends my age. 2016 means I'll transform from "Olga Taratuta, High School Graduate" to "Olga Taratuta, B.A." 2016 holds my future in its sweaty palms. The words "job," "money," "graduate school," and "scholarships" seem to have dominated my pool of vocabulary. 2016 is where I become a real adult, not the OSAP mooching fraud that I am now. But adulthood is a scam. It is a fable told by society to keep the economy in check. Adults are seduced by money. We become promiscuous, lurking the streets to make a buck. 

My original goals for 2016 were to:
A) Get into graduate school
B) Get a job
C) Get an apartment
D) Save, save, save!

Then I realized that all those goals are money-driven to some degree. They are but cookie cutter resolutions, such as "exercise more" or "lose 5 pounds." I will not make money by aiming to make money. I have realized this after quitting numerous minimum wage jobs, where I performed menial, brain-draining tasks, from sweeping popcorn off the floor to standing and smiling at a restaurant entrance. No, money is not my goal. The pursuit of money makes me anxious and sick. There are better ways to earn money, and it is by doing what you love. 

Lame, right? We hate telling people to do what they love. You love painting? Good luck with that! You love writing? The market is bad for that unless you're the next J.K. Rowling. You want to be a teacher, you say? Better move to China where the jobs are! Most people aren't supportive, I realize. Some friends, classmates, professors, sometimes parents. It puzzles me, then, what it is that you are supposed to be doing with your life, if the market is seemingly so bad for nearly everything (including law, medicine, and engineering, according to some sources).

But if I don't do what I love, I will go insane. My first job will not be one that I will whole-heartedly love, I know, but I want to at least enjoy it. I want to feel appreciated for what I do. I want people to rely on me. I want them to care if I miss a day of work or if I show up thirty minutes late. And what I love is:

A) Writing
B) Social justice
C) Feminism
D) Politics 

And the list can go on. When I focus on my interests, I feel grounded and secure. My goals for 2016 will help me do what I love, and they are as follows:

A) Worry less
B) Believe in yourself
C) Stop complaining
D) Be creative

With that, I wish you all a merry 2016, and great success! Love will never lead you down the wrong road. Here is a bible quote (just food for thought):

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

(Matthew 6:24).

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