The
year of the Dragon is almost upon us. Even though we celebrated the Julian New
Year six days ago, the Chinese New Year doesn’t begin until the 23rd
of this month, so it is still the year of the Rabbit until then. For me, the
year of the dragon holds a special significance whereas it was the year in
which I was born. This’ll be my second cycle through the Zodiac and in another
year I’ll be at the quarter century mark. Not that big of a deal really, but it
does represent a good point in time to look back and evaluate one’s life so
far.
When I was still in Jr. High School,
I already knew what I wanted to be and what I was going to become. Fast forward
ten years and, sadly, I haven’t accomplished anything I dreamed of when I was a
kid. I had fully expected that by now I would be a published author. Yet the
only thing I’ve ever published outside of cyberspace has been a poem I wrote
back in High School. I wanted to see distant lands and learn languages from
every corner of the world; but the only place I’ve visited outside the States
has been Vancouver, Canada and the only language I’ve been able to pick up has
been Spanish; and I’m not even fluent, barely conversant even.  |
| This was taken a small ways from Vancouver, Canada when I was walking to the UBC museum of anthropology. |
Now, I’ve this horrible tendency to
blame all of my failures on external factors. But when I really open my eyes, I
see that the root of the problem is entirely internal. When I fall, I have a
hard time picking myself up and I end up reverting into my own world, cutting off
myself from everything else; and I’ve fallen quite a lot since finishing high school.
Whether it be school, work, friends, girls, I can’t seem to succeed with any of
it. And though I’ve given into despair numerous times, I have to keep trying. As
the great Chinese philosopher and religious leader, K’ung Ch’iu- later known as
Confucius- said: Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in getting up
every time we do.
This year, it is about high time I
pick myself up again, dust off the failures of the past and give it another go.
So here is a list of goals I want to achieve before the year of the serpent comes
in twelve months time:
1. Get
my EMT.
2. Begin
learning to play the Violin.
3. Publish
two short stories and or a book.
4. Read through the Standard works.
5. Overcome
social anxiety/ make some friends.
6. Become
at least conversant in Japanese.
7.
8. Get back to school in the fall.
9. Read fifty books
10. Have a full journal written
