With no further adieu, *clears throat*... These were my 2015 resolutions:
1. Improve cleanlines/tidiness
Why is this even a resolution? Well, according to my mother's standard I'm sort of untidy. I think I did improved in this aspect this year. Because I'm easily distracted and a busy person, so I tend to leave the dishes or have "no time" to clean my room. Still, this year I get rid of the excuses: Made time to sweep my floor and sort out my things. I've even created a cleaning playlist. I guess the drawback of this resolution is there is no ways to measure the effectiveness. Considering no major incidents happened (ants), shall we pass this? :P
2. Punctuality
Against the Malaysian culture! This is something I learnt from Korea. Being 15 minutes early despite others haven't arrived yet. I think this is a way to show a person's sincerity. Also, as I explained earlier, due to my busy body nature, my activities are always back-to-back. This year I kept a more specific planner and it seems to improve. I don't think I've achieve the 15 minutes early rule. But I think I'm barely late to class this semester. And again, how am I supposed to measure this?
3. Band 5 in MUET.
Unfortunately I failed this one. So let's not talk about this and see "you" in March.
4. Volunteer work
Honestly, I've forgotten about this resolution until I've checked my diary recently. I hope to work with Malaysian Care again some day. I cried when the kids sent me a video weeks later after my visit. Whenever I feel down I would watch the videos and remember them and how sound of the cicada greeted me in the morning. It's truly a meaningful event in 2015 and I'm glad it's listed as one of my goals :)
5. Travel to a new foreign country (one a year)
Taiwan was my younger sister, Joanna's choice. We explored Taipei and Taichung for 8 days. By feet (Of course I flew there, don't try to be funny! haha). It was a meaningful trip as we have made new friends and our itinerary was rather relaxing and fulfilling at the same time. Most importantly, it was adapted to both our interest : Nature and history. For instance, we didn't went up the skycrapper. We took the train to the last station and hiked up a shady hill right next to it. It was a great scene. We actually climbed alot of hills throughout our trip. The other was a 2 hours hike in the Yeh Liu Geo Park, only to search for a lighthouse. I remembered running down hill (breathless) with my sister because the track was so secluded and we heard a sound out of no where. It was really dangerous but memorable. Another highlight was Shan Lin Xi, a natural forest up on the mountains. We went on summer but the temperature up there was 16 degrees. Waking up at 4am, asking for directions everywhere, missing the 2 hours bus.. Still, it was really worth it! It takes a whole blog post to convey the experience, but then.. I am so happy that I went with my sister, we don't need to worry if the other prefers shopping or something else. We were just there enjoying each other's company. Such great moments to cherish :)
6. Social Media Diet
I've achieved and failed this at the same time. Guess I have to set a special agenda just for Facebook. Progress: I've deleted Wechat, Snapchat and made my Instagram private. Initially I've limited my Facebook usage to 2 hours a day. However university life demands alot from being present in Facebook. I tried deleting Facebook from my smartphone, but I installed it again within a week. (Yes, it's that inconvenient). Hopefully for my work in the future, communication will be done through emails and Whatsapp instead. Unfortunately, this resolutions made alot of people anxious, because I became unreachable, I didn't respond immediately as I did previously. I hope people can understand the reason behind this: is because social media actually steals time from your reality. And with that time, you could actually do more things. So let's do this again shall we? :) #keepcalmandstopscrolling
7. Books & News
Another habit I've picked up from Korea. This was listed as one of my major resolution as it requires commitment. I failed my 2014 resolution to read 12 books a year. It was ambitious I admit. As I only achieved 2 books that year. Yet! Because of that failure, I was able to discipline myself to read 12 books this year. I'm a little lenient in the categories, as long as it is published, I considered it as a book.
The books I've read:
To Kill a Mockingbird, Escape Camp 14, The Railway Man, All of the Light We Cannot See, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Let it Snow, Teach Yourself World War 1, Biography of Marthin Luther King. The remaining 4 are romance, and I'm not going to name it. I promise I am not cheating.
Other books that I've read halfway: Time Keeper, Yellow Birds, 12 Years a Slave and World History.
News:
I failed to read the news on a daily basis. It's about 2-3days once. I've tried balancing my source which is to read news from both mainstream and non-mainstream ones. (Not from social media or unknown blogs) Sometimes I get really moody after reading about major incidents. Especially the authority's explanations. You know, these politicians just gives me cancer everyday. Alright, it's a little out of topic. Let's just hope the situation will improve.
That's all for my 2015 resolutions. The mistake I made back in 2013 and 2014 was to set vague and unrealistic goals. Thankfully, through mistakes I've learnt how to improve. My resolutions are far from being praise-worthy. It is just something personal, in which to improve myself and overcome my flaws. Hopefully in 2016, I am able to achieve the followings:
1. Punctuality: The 15 minute rule again.
2. Score band 5 in MUET.
3. Volunteer work again!
4. Travelling
Foreign: I got my eyes on Japan or China. I'm suppose to visit Europe this year with Suzie and Chris.. Let's see how it goes.
Local: Mostly East Malaysia. Specifically Mulu caves, beaches in Sabah and the Kuala Selangor fireflies sanctuary.
5. 12 books this year.
Same amount but this time romance/ teen fictions are strictly not included. And it make things more difficult. 2 books has to be in mandarin Chinese. 也要看华语书啦！
Booklist: The Railroad of death, The France Renaissance, To End All Wars, Pride and Prejudice, The Stranger, Buddha in the Attic..
6. Writing.
Be consistent to my diary, not only when I have issues.
Find a penpal.
7. History+ Geography knowledge
Chinese history
finish reading about world history.
World War 2 and French Renaissance.
Get myself a huge map.
8. Recording my expenses.
This is surprisingly difficult for me to achieve over the years. I keep my receipts for nothing. This year I decided to write it down with my diary.
9. Health
Exercise consistently. Run 18km a week. Also I plan to go vegan once a week.
10. Skills
Should I do this? I'm still deciding between ukulele and photography. Since I have quite a good camera. Yet, this is something difficult to measure. What actually makes a person skillful? :) Maybe I should consider some online classes.
11. "Appearance"
Friends always commented that I come off too strong. So I will do something about it. *ehem* (I actually wrote what to do but decided to ditch it because it's somewhat personal.)
There you go. Is this a little too much? After writing this, it seems to lack of significance. Nothing special and legendary. Hopefully I will be inspired to have a special resolution these days..
My motto of the year: "Against everything passive."
The "F" word was supposed to give the phrase a stronger impact, but then in short, I'm opposing everything equivalent to laziness and insincerity. So no need of the expletives.
Any of my friends that survived through the whole post, thank you for your time. I hope you will give me better suggestions, if you do have any. As usual, I will work hard to achieve these resolutions. It's something I hold on to and improving my flaws. Hopefully, in 2017 I will be satisfied with what I have achieve. :)
Wish me luck and strength<3 div="">
