New Expectations

What does a new year mean?

It’s like a chance to hit the refresh button. We all wished at one moment or another that we could start all over again. Starting a new year is something like that. Of course we can’t ignore the past completely but we look forward to the new year as if it would erase all our mistakes of the past so that we can start anew. We draw a line at 2007, leaving what we don't want behind. It’s a significant step as we step over to 2008. We want to be harder, faster, stronger, better. It’s rare for a human being to want to stay stagnant and be truly happy with what he’s got at the present. Even if one is content, one would strive to maintain that level of happiness that has been achieved and bring it over to the next year.

It’s pretty much the reason why people have New Year Resolutions. Some people try to buck the trend and not give themselves any because they know that they wouldn’t do it anyway. But isn’t it great to set foot in a new year knowing what dreams you’re going to achieve and what fears you’re going to conquer?

Go do things that you haven’t do before. Dare to dream. Limits and boundaries are placed upon you by people who are narrow-minded. You place those on yourself because of poor self-image. Let go of those because at the end of the day they aren’t the most important things in life. Work at how you want to be remembered if yoy should leave tomorrow. As an old friend once told me, it’s the relationships that you have with other people that matter the most. Everything else is secondary.

Every year, new people enter my life. Some people leave and never look back. It's a matter of cause and effect. Sometimes I welcome them in, at other times I block them out. Seldom do i take the intiative. Usually I react to the dirt thrown at me. I've comitted my fair share of mistakes but thankfully I made more right decisions than wrong ones. I feel great that I've managed to salvage my social life, though I wished it could've happened been earlier. No matter. I feel as complete as I can ever be.

Looking back I've improved tremendously the past year. I've done things that I wasn't brave enough to do previously. I've taken on challenges with regards to managing my finances and although I wasn't very successful in saving, I've managed to fund myself for the whole of this semester with the exception of my lappy! I've balanced teaching tuition and studying (fcuk maths), and I'll continue to do that next semester. I've tried out new sports like Water Polo and Cheerleading. I haven't been outstanding in either of them but I thought it was great that there were people patient enough to show me the ropes. I'll be god-like next year.

Kidding.

Seeing that I'm doing rather well, I think my methods of dealing with stuff will still be more or less the same next year. However I hope to achieve more, put myself out there - be it my thoughts or work and push myself to the limit. That was what I set out to do this year and it turned out to be rather rewarding. It's always hard to take the first step, but since I've done it many times, it can only get easier and my improvement will be accelerated.

I judge myself by my own standards.