From the second we were expelled from our mother's husk, our indoctrination commenced. Our unsullied, highly plastic brains were taking in every little facial expression from our caregivers, planting deep-rooted seeds that would shape our emotions and perceptions of the world—later dictating how we would form attachments in our adult relationships. Just escaping the womb with good health and strong genetics is a cosmic lottery win. And if we had somewhat attentive, loving parents, maybe a sibling or two, we were off to a better start than most could hope for. 

Happy New Year! It is time to reflect on the last 365 days and then try to change our lives entirely by the end of the next 365 days. It's a silly tradition of making shallow promises to ourselves that only have the stamina of a month–or two if we're lucky. Going on a diet, exercising, quitting alcohol (for good this time). Maybe you'll start making your bed and doing the dishes regularly. Perhaps you will switch to oat milk to cut out the calories and fat from dairy and, in the process, frustrate and annoy every barista you encounter. The truth is, we could've done these things at any point but chose to wait. We put it off to some arbitrary starting point only to have our newfound motivation crumble by February.