Happy New Year and Happy New Challenges

And so we are well into 2012 with a week gone by and all the excitement of the changes that comes and goes, has passed over and its back to the grind with the holiday season well and truly over. So while some of us were busy writing down/up those resolutions on what we want to achieve in this year (more likely what we think we would like to achieve but given up on it some years ago) and some of us reflecting on what the year gone past and what we achieved in it (because by then it becomes a bit of task going through and checking your Facebook status updates and sorting out the achievements which actually were not a figment of your imagination but happened in real life). The rest of us, yours truly included, just move enjoying what becomes a long holiday and an excellent excuse to sleep in, laze around reading a book, watching a movie and still wishing that food would appear magically with a spell or two. Whilst not an avid fan of making new year's resolutions, and the fact that hardly anyone sticks to it past the month of January if not past a week in the month of January, it really does bring in the opportunity to realise the things you have fallen short of in your list of things to do while you are still moving condition. It also gives you an insight of your weaknesses which unfortunately you can't use (or probably should not use) in your interview question of "What do you think are your weaknesses?" as, replying "Well I have been trying to lose weight for the last 5 years but really have done the opposite and gained more weight" just makes you seem like a bit of a loser (not of the weight though). The one thing that you could do instead of making a huge list is come up with three to four things and put it up as a challenge, invite your friends to participate with you and beat their sorry asses to it (for more convincing ideas to stick to your resolutions, I recommend reading a friend's blog entry on the very topic which can be found on my blog list called "Lessons in Three"). So what am I doing this year, given that I don't "maketh" any of them resolutions yet still "talketh" about them, well nothing in particular but the usual as I have been doing for the last couple of years, I pick up one random challenge every 3-4 months and try to complete that and then move on to the next one, some of them are short term ones, some just a bit of a change to the lifestyle and some that can go for some time to achieve fully. The key to completing whatever you pick is to give yourself time to think and plan before you jump into it. So bring on 2012 and bring on the challenges and lets make a meal out of it (weight loss is something that is not on my non-existent list again this year). I wish you all the best this year and remember the two key things for this year - Be Happy and Keep Smiling! :) P.S: I have also signed up for the fiftyfifty.me challenge where you need to read fifty books and watch fifty movies in the year 2012. If you think you are up for it, lets bring it on! :)