{"id":18704,"date":"2018-02-06T11:20:01","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T16:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=18704"},"modified":"2018-02-07T13:51:50","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T18:51:50","slug":"my-voice-now-is-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/02\/06\/my-voice-now-is-now\/","title":{"rendered":"My Voice: Now is Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Entering a new year is always a mix of fun and exciting new experiences. With the promise of resolutions and new beginnings, it can be easy for many of us \u00a0to get sucked into the whirlwind of future events and ideas. I know this often happens to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0So, for 2018 I am making it a point to be present in the now and to just say \u201cyes.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Not to say that letting your mind wander is a bad thing, because it isn\u2019t. Although, by taking a time out to see and understand what is going on around you and being noticeably attentive will take you a long way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0By saying: \u201cNow is Now\u201d, I remind myself that where I am today is not the same place I was yesterday, and not the place I\u2019ll be tomorrow. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I have a clean slate every day to better myself and impact the environment around me. It\u2019s a reminder to not be timid and shy but to be confident and assertive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Bettering ourselves doesn\u2019t happen overnight, and we need to take steps every day. There is always something to work on; for me it starts with saying yes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I often find myself turning down amazing opportunities and flaking out of plans with friends because I\u2019m scared something will go wrong, or won\u2019t go according to plan. It has caused me to miss out on fun memories with friends, new experiences and people.\"pexels-photo-708440\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m not suggesting you go super far out of y<\/span>our comfort zone, but you should push your limits a bit to broaden your horizons. For me, it\u2019s been saying yes to that spring break trip and yes to seeing my favorite band LANY at Burberry Music Festival this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Though it doesn\u2019t have to be anything as big as a spontaneous spring break trip or a concert, it can be small things like trying something you\u2019ve never had before at your favorite restaurant, listening to new music genres or just standing up for yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m making it a point to unapologetically be myself in 2018. I\u2019ve never done that before. Being the doting people pleaser I am, I always focus on other people and never myself. I\u2019ve found this isn\u2019t a healthy habit. I know plenty of people are like me and for them I\u2019d suggest self-love and attention as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Being present and self-aware in my surroundings is an intimidating goal, but I am more than ready to start living my best life, and I truly feel like being in the \u201chere and now\u201d mixed with saying yes will be a killer combination. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I understand I won\u2019t just wake up and be my best self, but I will need to take it one step at a time and one day at a time. I encourage anyone who feels ready to take on what life has to offer and start saying yes. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Begin to be aware of where you are and what you\u2019re contributing to the environment around you. Take the step and be the change. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Haley Edwards
\n<\/strong>Reporter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Entering a new year is always a mix of fun and exciting new experiences. With the promise of resolutions and new beginnings, it can be easy for many of us \u00a0to get sucked into the whirlwind of future events and ideas. I know this often happens to me. \u00a0 \u00a0So, for 2018 I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":18722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2217,2109,3],"tags":[2328,2280,1407,2359],"class_list":["post-18704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-voice","category-opinion","category-tartan-news","tag-2328","tag-haley-edwards","tag-my-voice","tag-new-year"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/pexels-photo-249613.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-4RG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18704"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18733,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704\/revisions\/18733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}