Felicity.

PHOTO: TOUCHSTONE PICTURES.

“I guess I'm learning, little by little, that we decide what our lives are going to be. Things happen to us, but it is our reactions that matter.” | Felicity

I'm about 13 years late in saying this, but I think I've found my one true love in the form of a television show. Felicity entered my life in my third summer of college (when it was acceptable to stay up until 5am binge-watching Netflix), and as you can imagine, many sleepless nights ensued. It seemed at the time that the show's heroine—a hopeless romantic on the cusp of adulthood—was going through some of the same things that I (and every other twenty-one year old female on the planet) was, and watching her deal with a dramatized version of university life's challenges served as my own personal form of therapy.

I sadly finished the last episode a few days ago. (Tears may or may not have been involved.) It never ceases to amaze me how much of a sap I can still be about my favorite onscreen narratives, and how attached I grow to fictional characters. But fictional or not, their impactful stories are undeniably rooted in—or at least inspired by—someone's reality, right? Which means, when given a name and a face, we can surely relate to, feel for, and yes, even learn from these imagined personas.

So I'm taking a page from Felicity's book this year. New phase, new mantra. From 2016 onward, no matter what the circumstances, I choose to take complete ownership of my words and (re)actions. I decide what my life becomes.

SPOILER/SIDEBAR: Even though Felicity totally should have ended up with Noel, I'll find it in my heart to forgive her (and the writers). But that's another conversation for another time.

More wise words by Felicity here.