By Jasmin Acosta,
Healthy Planet Staff Writer
As we enter a new year, we often make resolutions such as to eat healthier, exercise more, or try a new hobby. But what if we made a different kind of resolution? One where we choose to live life to its fullest potential. A resolution to feel deeply, to speak honestly, and to share our thoughts and emotions with those around us, even if doing so feels risky. Even if it could backfire. Even if we might get hurt. Because one day, we may look back and wish we had said everything we meant to say while we still had the chance.
Too often, we hold our words back out of fear. Fear of rejection, fear of vulnerability, or fear of being hurt. But tomorrow is never promised. Time will pass regardless, and allowing fear to control our actions only leads to regret. One day, we may wish we had set aside our ego, our pride, and our fear, and simply followed our heart.
We do not want to look back wondering what could have been if we had just spoken up. If we had told someone we loved them, reached out to an estranged friend, or reminded someone how much they meant to us.
Loving someone will always come with a cost. That cost may be heartbreak, the feeling that you have given everything and do not know if you can love the same way again. But time can heal those wounds. However, the regret of unspoken words and missed chances lingers differently. It can only be healed by forgiving ourselves. So why wait to wish we had done something when we still have the opportunity to do it now?
Open yourself to the people around you. Say the things you have been holding in, as you never know when someone may no longer be part of your life.
Stay in the present moment. Let your heart be loud. Let your feelings take up space and be spoken into the world. Love fully, speak freely, and trust that whatever comes next is better than a life filled with unspoken words.