Well, I hope everyone has recovered from their nights of celebration. It's days like this that make me glad I don't drink, lemme tell ya. I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked last night since I too was out late, so I've been more or less useless all day, lounging around and trying to catch up on sleep (rather unsuccessfully). I like to ease my way into a new year, ya know? *wink*

As I laid in bed begging for sleep I realized I don't have any new year's resolutions. I've never really been one for resolutions anyway, as I feel they set a person up for guilt and failure, but I wondered if I should. I mean, I just went on a big journey in my life and I think I should take some time to reflect upon that, look at what I learned about myself and life, and apply it somehow. I'm not too sure how, but it sounds good, no?

There are things I would like to start incorporating in my life, and have wanted to for some time. I think a lot of the reason why I haven't before is because I have been unclear as to what I wanted to do and how. I hear goals are good, so I think I need to draw up a plan. I was doing pretty well with the meditation thing in my life before I went on my trip, so I want to return to that. I have already contacted my friend/meditation group and will be going back to meditating with them. That's a good start. I'd also like to get back into yoga... something easy to do at home and therefore easy to keep up with. I think dreams of going to a gym and building a sculpted body are often so daunting for people that they either never start at all or quit when the goal seems too far away. I wanna make my changes manageable. Meditation alone and with a group is easy, I can do that at least a couple of times a week, and I have done so pretty consistently for a year now. Yoga I also did regularly though I can't recall why I stopped; I think it's because I started going to the gym. Amazingly, I was a regular gym goer for almost a year before I went on my trip so I look forward to getting back into it (words I thought I'd never hear myself say). So my track record for maintaining the path to a goal has been surprisingly good. Lots of people start the new year by saying they'll go to the gym and then stop by March, so I am hoping that having beat the odds once before I can do it again.

So let's see. That means I wanna get back to the gym, get back into my meditation, and when I can't get to the gym (or on my down days) do some yoga. Pretty lofty goals, but I think life might interfere. I guess muchof this depends on whether or not I get this new job next week, and if I do it might make it better because I will be working from home. Or will it make worse because I'll be on the road a lot? I can't tell.

One last goal... I need to get back into eating properly. Again, in the last year I have made some changes, slowly, and have seen good results. Whole wheat bread, soy milk, bran.. you have to make small changes where you can and work up to bigger changes. But I need to educate myself about nutrition if I want to take that process farther, so I think that will be my next project. Hm, I think I need to start making a list or something.

Anyway, like I said, I don't want to overwhelm myself with impossible goals, and I don't think any of you should either. If going to the gym seems impossible, just go for a walk after dinner every night. Baby steps. Don't make radical changes all at once, it's too hard to adapt and maintain. You didn't develop these habits overnight, so you can't change them over night either. Set yourself up for success, not failure.

Before I go I'd like to point out that my favourite new politician, Mahmoud Ahmadineja, the president of Iran, is kicking the year off right. You may recall that he had said a couple of months ago that Israel should be wiped off the map. Then he said that the Holocaust never happened and that 6 million Jews and other "undesirables" didn't die. He also suggested that Israel be moved to Alaska or Canada. Well this winning thinking has lead to yet another bizarre remark: he has now suggested that "Europe wanted to continue the genocide by establishing Israel, a Jewish state in the midst of Muslim countries". You know, the genocide that supposedly didn't happen. Make up your mind, man! Was there, or was there not, a Holocaust??

While deep down inside this kind of insanity does frighten me with it's outrageous level of irrationality, I also find it extremely amusing and entertaining. That's why I am loving the whole Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes (TomKat) Thing. It's a descent into madness that I can't help but be entertained by. Unfortunately, when it's a world leader, the consequences can be far more reaching. This man is opening his mouth and uttering insanity and millions of Jew haters around the world are listening, and though many are afraid to voice it, they see the world in the same sick way that he does. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what scares me.

So. For the new year I, like thousands of beauty pageant contestants before me, hope for world peace. It's time we start be good to each other....
I hope everyone has wonderful, prosperous, joy filled and loving year. And a peaceful one (dare to dream!).