i know this is a bit belated, but i have decided on a few new year's resolutions that i would like to share with you. i have tried to make them small and doable things that i can keep going throughout the year. okay! here they are!
1. read fifteen new books
i know this doesn't seem like many for a whole year, but once uni cranks up i find it so hard to make time to read anything but psychology books! particularly as i am getting into my thesis this semester, i know it will be tricky. but i thought having this goal would give me permission to even just read for ten minutes in bed at night. here are some of the books i have lined up. i already finished one - 'tell them to get lost' by brian thacker. the author travelled around south east asia with a lonely planet from 1974 to see how things had changed - great concept and very interesting stories, but his writing was terribly cheesy. i just started 'oranges are not the only fruit' by jeanette winterson.
again, doesn't seem like many but i thought it was a good start! first on the list was chocolate rum slice from my 'afternoon tea' frankie cookbook.
3. save a little bit of money each month
it doesn't have to be a lot! just some! i just got offered a substantial amount of tutoring work at uni so hopefully that will make this a bit easier (and help with #5!).
4. lose five kilos
what a cliche! but seriously, what is the new year without a weight/health related goal? i don't think this quite sums up what i want to do - i'm more interested in eating better and getting stronger and fitter, but i thought this would give me something specific to work towards and feel good about when i get there! i have joined the uni gym and can walk there from my new house, AND got some fancy-pants gym clothes and a pink backpack in the sales, so i have no excuses! i have been doing a program they set up for me for the last couple of weeks and it is tough, but i'm enjoying it and hopefully it will start paying off soon.
5. go on a holiday
i think this is so important - what's the point of working all the time if you can't take some time off at least once in a whole year and spend some time letting your soul catch up with your body? i also promised myself a couple of years ago that i would travel internationally every year, so hopefully this will include somewhere overseas.
6. write a blog
bam. done. too easy! :P
7. don't sweat the small stuff
i am a bit of a worrier and a bit of a control freak, which sometimes works to my advantage, but often causes a lot of unnecessary stress. i think it will be important this year to let things go for a couple of reasons. we have moved back into a share house, which always means there will be little things now and then that could become stressful if i let them be. my thesis supervisor is also a pretty mad fellow, so letting the little things go in that relationship will be important (and a massive achievement!).
8. love the things i already have.
i have talked about this in a previous post. i find it so easy to get wrapped up in wanting things i don't have and letting this make me unhappy, so i am going to try really hard to appreciate everything i already have. in a beautiful new house with two beautiful people (and a fabulous new couch!) that shouldn't be too hard.
i feel like i'm on the right track at the moment - i am slowly etching away at all of them. the test will be when i start back working and studying, but i'm hoping that by starting small i can stay motivated. at the end of the day i want to remember that all of these things will make me happy.
