News Staffer Emlyn McKinney’s “This I Believe” graphic is shown above. McKinney discussed the importance of occasionally taking a break from focusing on upcoming goals to reflect on personal growth. “I’ve benefitted from having a holistic approach to journaling instead of dominating my entries with future goals and filling them with my flaws,” said McKinney. “They’re just a safe space for me to recognize where I am in my life, away from a world that puts a lot of emphasis on next steps and huge achievements.” Graphic by Emlyn McKinney
News Staffer Emlyn McKinney shares their belief that it’s important to take a moment to recognize personal growth in a performance-driven world.
Hi, I’m Emlyn McKinney, a sophomore and a News Staffer for the ODYSSEY Media Group at Clarke Central High School. This is “This I Believe.” These are essays that discuss the origin, importance, and rationale behind people’s personal belief systems. Students will share their personal essays discussing how these beliefs affect their everyday lives, times they may have been challenged, and how they may impact the lives of those around them. This is “This I Believe.”
New Year’s Eve.
The sound of persistent fireworks will crack through the neighborhood. Colors will explode across the sky as millions worldwide tune in to watch the Times Square Ball Drop in New York City. Excitement will mount as the clock counts down to midnight.
And while the ball drops, while the world enters a brand-new year, while people celebrate, a small journal will rest in my room, recounting every day of my 2024. Every bad time or great moment, anything I deemed important, all residing in a little teal book.
In 2023, leading up to the new year, I decided that I would create resolutions from my flaws as a way to become a better person going forward. I was looking at it from the perspective of, “I’m going to break myself down and build myself up from the pieces.”
There were accomplishments in 2023 that I was proud of, but I was too focused on what I needed to “fix.” As I was struggling, I remembered my “One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book,” which had been gifted to me the previous year. I had tried to write in it a couple of times before but never had the resolve to make journaling an everyday habit, so it just collected dust until the next time I felt motivated to write.
I flipped through the entries dated for 2023, trying to find my regrets, and instead, mixed in with the bad, I found warm moments. There were sleepovers with my friends, new books and trips to amazing places. I got distracted and ended up reading as many pages as I could. I wanted to know how I had changed, but the entries were so sparse it felt like I had lost part of my memory.
The journal inspired my sole New Year’s resolution for 2024: write one journal entry every day, even if it’s short.
While setting goals for self-improvement is good in moderation, becoming obsessed with what you “need” to change about yourself can hurt. You start to forget where you used to be as a person and can’t appreciate the journey that you’ve taken to be where you are right now.
I know that sometimes a day doesn’t feel like much. Maybe I didn’t complete every item on my to-do list or I went the entire day without even picking up a book. However, waking up every day and doing something, anything, from brushing your teeth to writing a 10-page report, will start to add up over time.
Change isn’t going to happen overnight, and I’m still grappling with that truth. I can’t force myself into immediately changing my personality, my work ethic or my ability to handle certain situations. Instead, if there’s something I really want to change, I can put in the work to gradually do so. Keeping a journal is part of that work.
I’ve found that it’s really helpful for me to have a tangible representation of my growth over a year, whether it’s a notebook, a junk journal, a photo album or a collage. I’ve benefitted from having a holistic approach to journaling, instead of dominating my entries with future goals or my flaws. They’re just a safe space for me to recognize where I am in my life, away from a world that puts a lot of emphasis on next steps and huge achievements.
It’s always important to recognize how far you’ve come every now and then, no matter where you are in your life or where you want to go. You should never feel like you have to wait to celebrate your accomplishments, the big and the small.
This I Believe.
