It’s that time of year again when I should review what has passed and make resolutions for what is to come.  You might be wondering why I’m writing this on the second day of January when it’s something that’s especially reserved for the first.  There are two reasons, one of which is true.  Reason number one is that I wanted to wait for the whole world to receive 2009 before they read “Happy 2009″ at the end of my post (because FYI, these notes have readers form all over the world ).  Reason number two is that I had gone out tonight and couldn’t make it before midnight to publish this post.  Whatever the case, here I am writing to you again.  Read on to see my resolutions this year …

• Control your attention. The idea is that changing our trajectory once in a while can be good, even necessary, but changing it too often can make us miss out on a lot.  (It’s the exploration vs. exploitation problem, and for a different approach but same idea see here.)  To elaborate further on this topic, I would have to go over the myriad of decisions I’ve made over the past year.  Instead, I’ll turn your attention to this wonderful quote from David Brooks — also an inspiration for this resolution, which says,
  

Control of attention is the ultimate individual power. People who can do that are not prisoners of the stimuli around them. They can choose from the patterns in the world and lengthen their time horizons. This individual power leads to others. It leads to self-control, the ability to formulate strategies in order to resist impulses. [...] It leads to resilience, the ability to persevere with an idea even when all the influences in the world say it can’t be done. [...] It leads to creativity. Individuals who can focus attention have the ability to hold a subject or problem in their mind long enough to see it anew.

• Be great and kind to family and friends. Make them feel lucky they know you.  If you see you can help out with something, do so without being asked.  But you need to be constant and predictable in being great so you can become dependable.
• Welcome happiness with open arms. Don’t avoid being happy all your waking hours.  Let the smallest achievements, acts of kindness, and living minutes be reasons for happiness.  Don’t judge me as old-fashioned when I sing,

You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between

You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

It’s a song we were taught and made to sing in Grade 3.  I guess I’m beginning to understand the value in its lyrics after 14 years

That’s it.  And now the review of the past:

I’m actually content about achieving most of last year’s resolutions.

I learned to touch type (I’m at 40wpm on a QWERTY keyboard, and yes, I’m still working on it.) For the first time in my life, I’m experiencing the kind of wrist pain most people complain about.  I have this post to thank for actually getting on the 30 minutes for 30 days plan.  Had it not been for the harsh and frank tone it carried, I would probably still be sitting, hoping for that speech-to-text software.

I got back in touch with math.  I took four math courses this recently expired year, which helped on the analysis topics at least.

Fitness-wise, I learned volleyball. I was always unsure and disapproving of the sport, mostly because I felt I had little talent for it.  However, after more than a few bruised forearms and aching fingers, I started to get the hang of the darn thing.  It was a truly humbling experience but made me realize that I wasn’t stuck with my existing set of abilities.  I needed to keep on trying until the breakthrough moment — when playing was no longer a struggle, but came naturally.

Without further comments, I like to end this note as I touch type with a sore wrist, aching fingers and a bruised forearm, by wishing you a year of control, kindness, and happiness. Happy 2009.  Thank you for reading.