Resolutions

Last day of the year. I remember a particular quote from someone famous, who said in high school people actually believed they can change the world, and later in life, we find out that we can only, in fact, change ourselves. I've been around for 29 years, and as the coming year marks a milestone for me, I really want to make some changes in my attitude- New Year's resolutions I actually want to keep. Since I'm making them public, feel free to remind me anytime if I begin to stray from these goals. Here they are:

1. Be more practical. You see, I rely more on instinct and emotions ("how I feel about certain things") rather than logic when deciding. My rationale before was that, since man is perpetually in search of happiness- then why not use your emotions as a barometer in deciding if you are going the right direction or not. The problem is that emotions are transient. They are no permanent than waves at the beach- and more often than not when one decides based on feelings either: 1) long term effects are not taken into account, and 2) one tends to be impractical and this leads to costly decisions.

2. Live within means. As a working guy from 2002-2006 and comparing that with living on allowance now (i.e. having no income on my own), one lesson definitely learned is that living within means is a life with less headaches and debt. Actually, it doesn't matter how much you earn- as I totaled my Net income for those years I worked, I did make my first million, so to speak. Only that by the time school started in 2006 I merely had more or less 30,000 in cash left. So where did the 400k per annum went? Rooftop apartment, clothes, accessories, gadgets, parties on weekends,trips to Bora, Sagada, Galera at least once every quarter. And when I started studying again- although I toned it down already, I was still in the habit of overspending. So my resolution is be less impulsive (stay away from shopping malls), keep tabs on daily spending, keep tabs on what is spent in the household which I have managed for the last four years, and not exactly the most thrifty I might add.

3. Be more patient, be more humble. I remember during our thesis we went to Leyte Normal University to see a statistician. The entire department, including their boss kept criticizing our work- why we did a pairing (Me: "Ma'am, we made the variables of gender and age constant because there are developmental considerations and gender differences which may affect the academic performance of these subjects. Head of department:"It is not necessary for you to pair them, you may have different numbers of students from the adequately nourished and and undernourished groups. Me: reasons out yet again, the transcript of this conversation would go on for hours) and other particulars and I explained each of those details. The following week, a friend from another group confided in me that our statistician said that I had a "superiority complex". This coming from a complete stranger I only met for a few hours, OMG it must be true! LOL I also do projects on the side and multi-task, so when I delegate tasks to my contemporaries I expect them to be done correctly. But of course considering that my batchmates are young, I need to keep in mind to make allowances. By nature, I have a short fuse. By 2010 I want to be mooooore patient, and humble enough so I can learn from others, and learn more. Though I want to accomplish a lot, I don't want to be a Nazi in the process- just be really mature about it.

4. Do tasks as scheduled, balanced with R & R. I don't think I have much problem in this area except for boring and tedious tasks like studying. With other tasks- I can more or less accomplish with minimal trouble. With rest and recreation- well, sometimes goes overboard. So there, study as scheduled, study as scheduled.

5. Focus on long term goals, and live life with meaning and balance. This is very broad, yet this encapsulates what I really want to see in me for the next year and beyond. Stay principled and grounded with Christian values, work on maintaining good relationship with family and friends. I have a lot to work on, and hopefully God gives me the strength to continue on and improve. One day I hope I fulfill what God intended me to be.

So that's pretty much it. I thank everyone who has been a part of my life, sorry to anyone I have ever offended, and I wish you the best for the years to come. To my blog readers, friends, family Happy New Year!