things to do in 2010

this is a pretty extensive list, sent to me by my mother. i'm not sure how one person can aspire to do all these things every day, but maybe it's nice just to have something to try to do each day, instead of trying to do all of it, every day.

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

new year's resolve

today i was reading an opinion article about how people make new year's resolutions, and how they break them almost as fast as they make them. the writer went into some history of why this is done in the first place, and furthermore to say, hey, if you break your resolution, just revisit it quarterly and see if you're still interested in continuing on with it. but his conclusion was that most people would make and break them and make new ones next year.

well, i'll have him know i was devoted to my last year's resolution, which was to skip dessert after dinner. it's a fact that i did eat ice cream once or twice, and ate a few cookies and a few pieces of chocolate. but for the most part, i kicked butt and took names! and lost 10 lbs to boot, but not sure if that came from the dessert, the working out, the break up, stress at work...who knows.

this year i'm going to try something new. since i don't care much about dessert anyway, i'll probably at least try a piece of pie if someone offers it to me. but i don't need a whole slice, or a whole bowl of ice cream, or any of the other lavish desserts people sometimes have. though i wouldn't mind if someone made apple crisp next fall...

my new year's resolution this year is to drink 2 liters of water a day, and to go for a 20 minute walk every day. a health related note is that i'm going to try to avoid eating / drinking sodium benzoate this year. unfortunately, my favorite szechuan spicy sauce has this ingredient, as does dr. pepper. i had already bought some dr pepper before i decided to do this, so i'm thinking i'll bring it to parties and leave it there...though i don't go to many parties...or else i'll just drink it. worse than having a resolution is wasting food. wasting food is wasting money and i'm just not into that.

so far so good. i knew i wouldn't be able to start drinking 2L of water every day from day 1. i allowed myself to gradually work into it.

day 1 - 1/2 L
day 2 - 1/2 L
day 3 - 3/4 L
day 4 - 1 L

and here we are on day 5.

as for the walking, day 1 and 2 i spent 3 hours dancing each night. and day 3, i admit, i was lazy and didn't do anything. day 4 i took a 20 minute walk to and from my mailbox, and plan to do the same today. i'm also hoping to get to the gym today. but i don't want the gym to substitute for getting out into the fresh air. i'm hoping to get to know my neighborhood better, and maybe learn something more about campus too. however at this time, work is so nutty that i don't see myself going on any early morning walks just for the fun of it. since i'm trying to get to work between 6-7am every day...yeah...not getting up earlier than that. and when i don't get home till midnight-1am...yeah...not happening. but it will. i'm confident. and i'm devoted.