I never make resolutions (important decisions made on important occasions). Every December 31st, at the stroke of midnight, my mind usually wanders from the resolution-making task and is more concerned with why I am not at a fantastic party, wearing an evening dress, and talking to a gentleman.

I mean, will all of my photos consist of New Year’s Eves, one after another, with me in my sweater, eating leftovers? All I want is one, just one, fantastic picture to hang on my wall so all the world can see what an exciting and enviable life I lead. Is that too much to ask?

One year, all of this depressing thought got me to think a lot. Why did I feel the pressure to have a perfect New Year Eve? Why did I care? Probably the same reason I felt like I should be settled in a career and married with three kids already. Throughout most of my life, I had been far from the normal; somehow, I still felt it necessary to make apologies.

But why? Where was this desperate need to please coming from? I had travelled the world, owned my own business, bought my first house, and started fulfilling my dream of writing, all before the age of 25. So what did I have to apologize for? Well, as previously stated, I was still single and unsettled about my career, which for a woman of my age was not considered “the normal”.

Then, suddenly, as I was about to celebrate the new year by doing some laundry, an insight shone down from the heavens. It was a lightning of realization. For my first resolution, I was going to decide not to care. Not to care about anyone else’s expectation but my own and to make no apologies for it. After all, I had gone wherever the road had taken me, and it had taken me to a lot of fantastic places, places I would have never been able to go if I had “settled down” already. Not to mention, I had probably be starring in Desperate Housewives.

And as far as my career went, being unsettled was just being honest. I couldn’t change who I was just because I didn’t fit into the social norm. At least I wasn’t going to watch my life go by as I punched the clock at a job I hated. Just to climb an uninteresting ladder for a higher position? No, thanks! If I didn’t try out my options, I would never discover my passions. And don’t we all want to do something we feel crazy about?

Of course, there were all great thoughts, but actually combining them into my everyday thinking process would be a whole other story…So, was I able to rise to the challenge of my first resolution?

Well, let’s just say that I have made the choice to be okay. Okay with my singlehood and my ever-changing career path, and okay that others might not be okay with it. I think that is the most important. And every New Year’s Eve, I make sure to clear my schedule, dress up in my ugliest sweater, eat some delicious leftovers and relaxed with my cat. Then as I tune in to watch the rest of the world create a perfect New Year’s Eve, I glance at the photos on my own wall and think, “What a beautiful year it has been!”