Indulgence

the almost-ending year

Abraham Lincoln
Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

The year is almost ending. There are certain goals I want to put up for myself before the year ends. I don't know. I've never done anything like this before: making to-do lists. Being easily influenced by whatever grabs my attention at the moment, I'm horribly driven to one thing and then, after a month or so, I am horribly driven to do something else. So, it never seemed like a practical idea, for me, to go and make short-term goals and try to achieve them.

But this year, just for fun, I'll make a short term goal list of things I want to do before the year ends.

I definitely want to be able to do a nice set of fire zipping before the year ends. I want to be good enough to dance with fire. That's an easy one. That will be something I want to do and in the near future.

Since I'm scratching my reading itch again, after such a long time, I think it will be great to give a goal for myself on how many more books I'll get to read before the year ends. Lined up I've got the three books of His Dark Materials and then the two Steven Pressfield books -- the one on the Carthyginians and then the one of the Amazons. So that's 5 books. I've got a book that my friend from work (and from La Salle, actually) Paolo Ferrer is going to lend me. So that's 6 books. My short-term goal will be to finish 10 more books before the year ends. I think that's realistic.

And, in relation to reading, I think I should be writing more. I have to finish writing 2 short stories, 1 good publishable poem and another song before the year ends. That's a tough one to accomplish, considering my state of mind, but I think that it's a good goal to have.

I think it would be great to be able to have a new good friend before the year end, as well. So before the year ends, I want a new good friend. I should always be making my world grow and see and experience new things. Someone new thrown into the mix would only serve to make things better. Hmmm... That's a good one, I think.

I should watch another play before the year ends as well. I must never forget to be cultural. I am a cultured person. But considering my schedule -- 1 play is realistic and fair to myself. To ask myself to do more than 1 would be stretching it and would be putting unnecessary pressure.

And I should stop complaining so much. But that is impossible to do. So a short term goal for myself to stop myself from having a reason to complain is to force myself to go on 2 dates before the year ends. I should take the risk. Allow myself to get set-up or actually go out there, find someone that I'd be interested in and go on a date. Now that's going to be tough but it's what I want. 2 dates before the year ends.

Those are the short-term goals I plan to meet this year. Nothing too hard but quite easily left aside for more pressing concerns which should never really be the case. As people has been telling me -- my work should not be my life. I don't see anything wrong with it, but fine, I'll strive to be a more whollistic person (is that the right word?). I'll push myself towards the things I really want and really force myself to go the distance.

Oh yeah, and I'll see if I can spend my New Year's in a beach. That would be great. I'm planning on spending Christmas with my family in Bacolod, maybe I can go to Boracay for 3 days and spend New Year there. Well, as long as my family doesn't object. I haven't seen my sister and her husband and kids for quite a while but I've never spent New Years in a beach and I think it would be great. Even if I were alone. Just to be there and enjoy the cold wind and the sand and everything about the beach that I love.

Let's see if I can make that happen.

posted by wanggo @ 4:03 PM