Season Two, Episode Eight: New Year, New Beginnings

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never Is, but always To be blest: The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come" – Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man.

There's something about a new year that energizes people: perhaps it is the feeling of optimism at its peak, a feeling of starting anew with a clean slate, or a sense of a renewed opportunity to become better versions of themselves. But too often, these expectations are set so high; that in itself is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's good to push ourselves to the limit, but on the other hand, expectations are set so high that ultimately, are we leading ourselves into disappointment or failure?
And you know what else accompanies the end of the year/the beginning of a new year? Top ten lists. And as if we needed to be bombarded with more top ten things (even more obnoxious ones since we've just ended a decade), I'm stoking the flame even more with my own version. About.com has a Top Ten New Year's Resolutions, and you had your garden variety of the most common resolutions taken up by people like you and I. Let's see how I stack up against these resolutions:

1. Spend more time with Family and Friends
   

   This one I can definitely relate to. I rarely see my family in San Diego. The last time I went home before the holidays was the summer prior. Now that rotations are right around the corner, it would be a little bit harder to come home (no more skipping school to get an extended stay in San Diego), but what I will try to do this year is call and check in more.
   

   For the past two and a half years I've been a bit neglectful in the "friends" category as well, especially those friends that I've had before starting UCSF. Pharmacy school tends to be a sucking vortex of time and energy, and it was hard at times to coordinate schedules, since we run on what it seemed like different calendars. Plan of action: set aside at least three Sundays a quarter for my bffs and call them more often.
   

2. Fit in fitness
   

   Check and Check with this one. Since last summer, I've been actually quite good with making sure I've made time to exercise. Even during winter break! I did a 7-day free pass at a 24-Hour Fitness near my house, and I went almost every day. Now, with rotations looming in the horizon, I'm not sure if I can still do the everyday thing, but this would be one of my resolutions for the upcoming year.
   

3. Tame the bulge
   

   I'm ok in this department, though I'm sure I'm still carrying a bit of the holiday weight around. I can stand to lose a few holiday pounds, or as my friend calls it "a human evolutionary adaptation to inclement weather." Weight goal: lose 10 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle. And don't even ask how much I weigh… lol… I look deceivingly thin.
   

4. Quit smoking
   

   I'm a student pharmacist… I can definitely help anyone quit smoking if they're willing and able ;)
   

5. Enjoy life more
   

   This one is a very Chinese-fortune-cookie kind of resolution. What does that even mean? Don't answer that, it's supposed to be rhetorical.
   

6. Quit drinking
   

   Does drinking wine count as drinking? Lol… Seriously, ever since I've lived in Paris, I've always associated a nice lunch/dinner with a glass of wine. Does that make me alcoholic? Sophisticated? I'd like to think the latter.
   

7. Get out of debt
   

   Good luck to me on this one. I just took on a mortgage debt! Though as one of my friends have pointed out, it's not REALLY debt; I would be paying someone's mortgage anyway if I were to rent. But other than that, everything seems to be in order financially; the credit card debts are manageable, but will be paid off soon, I hope! Though the holiday shopping season was exceptionally brutal for me (in that I spent a bit more than I would normally), the incurred debt was nothing that I wouldn't be able to pay off in a month or two.
   

8. Learn something new
   

   I'll give this one a whirl. Over the break, my friend and I threw around the idea of sharing a Rosetta Stone CD and try to learn Chinese! Maybe we'll be successful.
   

9. Help others
   

   Check and Check with MHC's monthly clinic. I'm super excited for our first clinic day this Saturday, January 9^th.
   

10. Get organized
    

    Ha! on this one… I'd like to think that I have my own way of organizing things. What may look like a pile of mess is really an intricate labyrinth; organized chaos, I call it.
    

Aside from these ten, I have a few ones that I'd like to try out
 

1. No new shoes in 2010
   

   I feel like I'm approaching Imelda Marcos-status with my shoes. It needs to stop. Or at least take an extended hiatus. I have a few of them still in boxes waiting to be worn.
   

2. Try to be punctual
   

   Double Ha! on this one. But seriously, I'll try to be less late. Latest example of my fashionably-late act: over the holidays, my high school friends and I scheduled a dinner date at a Thai place in Hillcrest at 5:30. A few of them showed up a little earlier than 5:30; I showed up at 7:15. I know, bad… At least I told them I was running a bit late, and as a sorry-for-being-late gesture, I did buy the table tom-kah soup.