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| Ringing in the New Year in Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo 3DS). |
Yes, that (above) is how I rang in the new year. I lead a sad, sad life... LOL.
My brother gave me a Nintendo 3DS XL for Christmas, along with Animal Crossing: New Leaf (a game from one of my favorite franchises). Needless to say, I've been stuck to this thing ever since.
When I heard that Nintendo was releasing a new Animal Crossing title back in 2012, I had to contain my excitement. Coming upon my mid-30s now, I wanted to try my hand at being a "responsible adult," like how I remember my parents* and other adults in my life being at around that age... Ha!
After spending the last month or so living vicariously through this one guy on YouTube, my brother decided that enough was enough. Thanks to some awesome discounts during this holiday season (by the by, senseless violence and all around bad mojo during Black Friday is meaningless, my friends - it's a fact that similar or even better sales happen closer to Christmastime), he was able to buy the game and a game system for both himself and me.
So there ↑ I am, after politely turning down a few invitations (sorry, guys), celebrating #HNY2014... I mean, I make it sound bad, but really - so what? It ended up being a nice, quiet night in with my mom and my brother (who also happened to be celebrating the new year in his own Animal Crossing town) - what's wrong with that?
Which brings me to my one and only resolution for the new year: to be okay with things. In past years, I would've been calling and texting everyone, trying to fish for any information regarding New Year's Eve events. And if I didn't get the "right" invite, I would feel like I was being left out or missing out, and I would stew over it. And not just New Year's Eve, but with other things in life, too.
Being competitive and goal-oriented is one thing, but you shouldn't spend all of your energy putting yourself down when things don't turn out the way you had imagined. For those of you with a similar type of personality, I'm sure you've noticed (or will at some point) how tiring and draining it is to do that to yourself. It's like having someone (a boss, a parent, a sibling, a partner) nagging in your ear nonstop, 24/7. After enduring that, you have little to no energy or desire to get back up and try again.
I've decided that I've had enough with that kind of behavior - I'm going to start being okay with things. Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to be satisfied with failure. I just need to feel okay with the fact that it happened, or okay with the fact that things weren't "perfect," so that I can let go and be able to learn from it (if there's anything to be taken away) and move on.
So, everyone - join me for an okay 2014!!!
* Side Story: So, after typing that, I remembered something... I was around 7, and my family had just bought a new Nintendo Entertainment System. My parents ran a small business, so would often come home from work really late. I would try to stay up so that I could see them before I went to bed, but sometimes it just didn't happen. It was the middle of the night, and I had gotten up to go to the bathroom. Usually around this time, everyone's already in bed, so the rest of the house would be pitch-dark. This night, though, I noticed a strange glowing light coming from the living room. Just the glow - no sound. I tip-toed carefully down the hall to see what it was, and when I turned the corner...
There was my mom, sitting in the dark in front of the TV, playing Super Mario Bros.
