[[ NYR ]]

Midnightish.

Watched the brief fireworks display. Sat down. Opened my email account and started to write an this that will be posted on my blog. So, I did promise to blog about my NYR-new year resoultions. Here I am racking my brains to contemplate on the year that has spanked my butt and put me into so many turning points and showered me in the end with spoonfulls of sweet victory. What are the things that I will be working on this year?

1. TO SMILE MORE OFTEN. This has been my answer to Kai's question in her win-a-domain contest. Thankfully, I won as a special awardee for according to Kai, my answer hit her in the eye. Here's what I said.

"Upon browsing my pictures saved in my laptop, i noticed that I rarely smile. And if I do, I give a very reserved one-sealed lips, no teeth showing, eyes not in sync with the smile. I thought to myself, why? Why am I not as happy-looking as I want to be? So in 2011, I want to change my pout into a smile. As 'Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni said in his book, Don't be Sad, "To smile at your brother is charity." My usual assalamu alaykum, good morning/afternoon/eve, will be accompanied by a smile. That way, I can bring little joy not only to the one I'm greeting but to myself as well. I remember one scene in my fav movie Eat Pray Love, the medicine man advised Julia Roberts to smile, and not just smile simply but smile with the liver. Perhaps, if we smile more often, smile even if we don't feel like flashing our pearly whites, we will be a little happier. More than that, we make everyone around us feel lighter. I feel that I can fulfill this resolution, why not
when Allah blessed me with so much to smile about?" (see hijabified.co.cc)

2. ALWAYS WAKE UP EARLY. I am insomniac. That's a fact. I rarely sleep before 10 pm even if I sweat blood trying. I toss and turn on my bed, as my mind plays memories and random thoughts over and over again. Not until I am so exhausted can I sleep. That leaves me tired and groggy in the morning. Waking up is a torture especially that I have to wake up for the dawn prayer. A few times, I just refuse to wake up. But the consequence is grave. The guilt is there, for missing a prayer, starting the day late, and wasting precious early morning hours that could have been spent for doing chores or whatever worthwhile there is. This year, no matter how little sleep I had, I will wake up and stand for my prayer and keep moving. The early bird catches the fat worm. And the hare was beaten by the tortoise because he slept while the race is on.

3. NEVER SKIP A MEAL. My favorite professor in the biology department, Dr. Jhonamie Mabuhay, warned us that skipping a meal is actually the number one cause of death of brain cells. When we go hungry, our brain continues to function, or else we die, and without food, the cells in the brain canibalize each other. It's like the brain cells eat their fellow brain cells to survive a no-food phase. I don't ever wanna be dumb. Or dumber than how dumb I am now. A doctor in the making cannot let her brain cells die of starvation, or else...

So that's it. Three simple resolutions, so plain to the point of becoming not challenging. I'm comforted by the idea that these words of promise hold potential of being fulfilled. They're easy and realistic. I won't promise the moon and the stars, that's just beyond. As of now, that's all I can hold on my palm. I won't dare bite more than I can digest, swallow more than I can digest.

HAPPY 1-1-11 !!!

P.S. Merci Kai.