Resolutions (sort of)

I haven’t bothered to make new year’s resolutions for some years now, although in 2006 I did blog that I wanted to:

• make the most of everything I have (to be grateful for everything I have!)
• do my best with every opportunity I come across

Which are good, general ideals to live by for every month of every year, and not just at the fresh beginning of the year, in my humble opinion.

I don’t think new year’s resolutions work for me, although I do like the idea of starting anew and trying to improve oneself.  For some reason my annual improvements always seem to occur around the middle of every year – like 2005’s Early Rising Experiment; the (not one, but) two conference papers in 2006, and last year, changing the way I eat with Eat to Live. (Maybe I’m just too tired at the end of every year, with all the year’s activities and recovering from the festive season to make meaningful changes then.)

Anyway, I’m definitely not an experimental early riser these days (I like my 5am wakeup time), I’ll be presenting a paper and a poster at the upcoming VALA conference in Melbourne (the Click06 experience didn’t scar/deter me), and I’m pleased to report that I continue to mostly follow and enjoy the Eat to Live principles some five months later (and I’ve lost some 14 kg over this time – the most annoying/gratifying thing has been having to buy lots of new clothes). These mid-year improvements have been far more life changing than any new year’s resolutions I’ve ever made!

I’m not sure what this year will bring, but I think it will be interesting. Yesterday M and I booked flights to Europe – to celebrate ten years of being together. We’re going to be visiting London, Amsterdam and Berlin in the middle of the year (I’ll be blogging more on this over the coming weeks, I’m sure). I’m looking forward to reading more about the history of these cities, and brushing up on my Dutch and German.

Work wise, this year should also be a good one. The acting position I started in September has been extended until March 2009 and I intend to use this time to continue to learn and consolidate what I’m learning.