Who Are You Going To Be In 2012?

It's a new year. The parties have dwindled, the jeans no longer fit, our bank balances are traumatised and we've all gone back to work. I'm one of those people who never grew out of dreading the first day of school. I've always hyped it up in my head and made it seem like it was a drastic step I was never quite ready to take.

But the onset of 2012 has been a bit different. After a few weeks of lazing in the sun, eating everything in sight and having cocktails for breakfast, I was ready to go back to life. By life, I mean some kind of routine. When D-day came, I didn't moan or cry over the fact that none of my clothes fit, I simply got on with it. This is also one of the few years that I don't have a long list of New Year's resolutions that will be shelved by March, nor do I really have any regrets from the year gone by. None of this is because I had an amazing year with no glitches and tears, mind you; but, there's something about the onset of this year that has me feeling calm, relaxed and pretty sorted – a highly unusual state for me.

While I was happily riding my calm wave, a friend of mine sent me a 30-day self-love challenge. I figured it can't be a bad thing to do, so I set myself up and was ready to do the first exercise which was writing out 20 things about yourself that you're grateful for. At first I figured that would be pretty simple; I mean, how hard can it be to write down 20 things that you quite like about yourself? Four and a half hours later, I finally finished the project. Which got me thinking: if it takes me that amount to time to find 20 things I appreciate about myself, what am I actually doing with myself?

A week into 2012, I've realised that this is the year I would like to be more honest with myself about my needs, wants, dreams and fears. In the Jo'burg COSMO office, we often speak about people living their dream life and how awesome that is. I think, this year, every COSMO girl deserves that. So, as the new year starts I hope you have the strength and the courage to invest in your own truth, the drive to make your dreams a reality, and the inner wisdom to realise that you, too, deserve to live your dream life.

Here's to a fabulous 2012!

Author: Zama Nkosi