Doing Eff-all in 2009...

I generally don't do New Year resolutions.

"What's your New Year resolution?" - standard question in the first week of every new year. In the last few years, my standard answer to that question is "I don't make any that I can't keep and frankly, neither should anyone else". HAHAHA... too grumpy an old coot to be encountering on New Year's morning, don't you think? The kind you'd like to kick in the ass, I'm sure... :-)

In any case, I don't believe that there is anything extra that one can do on New Year's day that can't be done on any other day in a year. But if making resolutions are still a must, then I think making ones that are achievable should be the way forward. And there should be no shame in making a list of 100 small do-able things than making one big one that is insanely improbable.

I choose to look at things with a view for continuous improvement and the onset of a New Year is when I remind myself of what it is that I am focusing on. These are things that I already do and/or practice daily and this is merely my way of 'taking stock'. Hence the Doing Eff-all in 2009 is an open-ended work-in-progress which does not end come 31st December. And here are WHAT THE EFFs mean:

1. Family: Filial piety is something that should never be mistaken, misplaced nor disregarded and I think I have been guilty of that for too long; making the conscious efforts to repay those who unquestioningly give me no shite about my life and the way I choose to lead it, especially to my mother.

2. Friends: Cultivating new relationships and rekindling old ones; recognizing those who are ‘worth my time’ and keeping them close. Making time for meaningful conversation in smaller groups, preferably one-on-one.

3. Fitness: In the loosest sense, to avail myself to any type of activity (especially to try new ones) that requires some form of perspiration. Kicking off 2009 with a 78km bike ride was a good start! Cycle Singapore, here I come!!

4. Free time: To do things for myself that are outside of the first three Effs and work; me-time, quiet time, time to think, time to be solitary.

5. Faith: Constantly reminding self that there is a higher power at work that moves and shapes things in ways that are not always immediately clear to us but trust that things happen for a reason, often a good one. And when all else fails or in doubt, SURRENDER (thank you for perspective, scsf).

6. Filosophy: Everyone has something to say no matter how young or old, how (seemingly) sane or not; listen, learn, reflect and analyse. To be more open to what others have to say and being less judgmental is the key.

7. Food: The ultimate savour of life, as experienced through my taste buds.

All said, this will evolve as the year progresses because LIFE in itself, is a work in progress.