Adios, Adios, Adios!

            The first story I ever wrote was titled, “Timmy the Monkey and His First Play Date,” or something along those lines. It was about (shocker!) a monkey named Timmy and his first play date with Tommy the Cat. I know it’s not the most creative plot, but I was in first grade so give me a break.

            I enjoyed writing that story more than I did working as a fashion consultant for my Bratz dolls or substituting bricks for legos as I constructed my dream house. The crayon nuzzled in my right hand, telling the story in my mind to the blue sheets of construction paper my mom had stapled together for me. I also decided to include artistic depictions of pivotal scenes in case my readers could not understand what game Timmy and his friend were playing or why Tommy had to go home at the end. Once I finished, I let my one adoring fan read my story. My mom loved it.

            It's one of the fondest memories from my childhood.  

            Now, here I am many years later. I’ve gone from writing fictional stories in crayon for my mom to writing down my experiences and thoughts on God and Christianity for readers of my blog. It’s been a year and half since I began this blog and I still can’t believe people even wanted to read what I’ve had to say. I kept thinking to myself, “Wow, people actually care? What a blessing!”

            As wonderful as this blessing has been, I am both sad and happy to say it is time to move on. I’ve enjoyed writing for my blog a great deal and I’m completely grateful for all of the readers who have taken even a second of their day to glance at my few posts. As much fun as I’ve had, though, I’m no longer a teenager. In addition, I’m graduating soon and I know God has plenty more planned for me after I welcome this diploma into my life.

Although I am happy to say “hello” to the next stage of my life, I am sad to say “goodbye” to my blog. However, I want to make it clear that I am in no way saying “goodbye” to my writing or readers of my writing in general. I sure hope that if I ever start another blog or become a famous author someday, readers of this blog will continue to enjoy what I have created.

And readers? Please don’t let me become one of those attention-hogging authors on TV whose sole wish is to magically transform books into cash. It’s always been about the writing and the talent that God has given me; I never want it to become anything else.

So, if you ever see my name on some fancy novel on a Barnes & Nobles shelf, just remind me about the monkey story, the little girl who wrote it, and the aspiring writer that she bloomed into with nothing more but a Christian teen blog.

God bless,

Selys Rivera

A New Year's Post: Realistic Resolutions

            I keep trying to think about what my New Year resolution should be. I don’t want to do the typical “get in shape” or “learn a new hobby” kind of resolution. Those kinds of resolutions only stick at the beginning of the year. It’s easy to work out or practice a new instrument in January. It’s also easy to just give up and put that gym membership card or hand-me-down guitar away in a place where it’s forgotten until the next year rolls around and the cycle starts all over again. 

I want to do something that will stick all year round, something that I know I can look back at by the end of the year and be proud of doing.

A realistic resolution.

            My resolution for this past year of 2014 was to mature. In 2013, I went through a rebellious stage and my relationship with my mom struggled quite a bit. So when the New Year came, I made a promise to myself that I would do my best to mature throughout the year whenever I had the chance.

            This wasn’t the kind of resolution I could just practice for a month and then give up on. It was more arbitrary. Every time there was a hardship, whether it occurred once a month, weekly, every day, or not, I would find myself encountering chances to practice my maturity.

It wasn’t something I could avoid like the other two common resolutions I mentioned. It’s easy to avoid the gym or put away the guitar to ignore the resolutions, but when I found myself in a situation where I had only the two choices of acting mature or immature, it wasn’t so easy to avoid the promise I had made to myself.

            Looking back on this past year, I can honestly say I think I’ve fulfilled my resolution. Like I said, since the resolution was different, it was more achievable. Being in shape and learning a new hobby are clearly definable. For example, loosing fifty pounds, and being able to run a few miles when before I couldn’t, would qualify as “being in shape.” Also, going from never having picked up a guitar to knowing the basic chords and some simple songs qualify as having “learned a new hobby.”

            But how can one define maturity?

It’s difficult to say the least. “Mature” could mean anything from being able to handle any crisis and avoiding all drama to simply respecting my parents more often. It’s relative. Technically, so can “being in shape” and “learning a new hobby,” but not as much. I think that’s why my resolution stuck. No matter what, even if I slipped up and acted immaturely from time to time, so long as the next chance I opted for maturity, I was still making progress.

            For me, striving for maturity was a more realistic resolution, and I’m glad to say I think I’ve met it.

            As for 2015, I want another resolution like the one I made for 2014. I want something just as arbitrary and just as achievable, something where even the slightest bit of improvement will leave me satisfied by the time 2016 rolls around.

            What I think I’m going to go for is this: “to grow in faith.” I’ve had my fair share of doubts this year and ran into a few bumps in the road on my spiritual journey with God. For next year, I want to make sure I face those bumps with better traction. Like with the “maturity” promise, the chances to work on the “faith” resolution will come at random, but in the end I think I will feel just as fulfilled.

            Maybe “growing in faith” is not a very realistic resolution for others, but it is for me. I invite anyone who wants to join me to, well, join me! I also think my last year’s resolution to mature is one worth trying (I know as teens that can be difficult, but hey, I mean, we won’t be teens forever, might as well practice.). If not, any resolution that seems more realistic is better worth making then something we all know isn’t going to stick (Like I said, who wants to keep lying to themselves about getting in shape? If that treadmill didn’t call for me last year, it won’t call for me this year.)

I think if people could make more realistic resolutions for themselves, they’ll be more inclined to keep them and be happier at the end of the year. And if the resolution is something like, say, “growing in faith,” I think that’s something worth praying to God for help fulfilling. I’m sure God wants our New Year to be just as fruitful as we do.

Happy New Year!