This Blog is on Sabbatical...Again

OK, well, it's a new year. Time to try and make good on my resolutions. I'm a little behind schedule, but I was hoping to do a first edit of my book this month. Hopefully, I'll have a decent excerpt from it for you to read when I get back.

I'm sad to temporarily say goodbye to the blog, but it has to be done. I just know things will come up that I will want to write about, but I'm going to have to divert that energy into the book instead. I'll miss you guys! If you want to see what I'm up to, please check my Twitter feed on the right. That gives me at least a small outlet (140 characters or less) for my thoughts.

Happy January! See you next month...

K.

May All Your Resolutions Come True

Normally, I keep my New Year's resolutions to myself. However, in light of the fact that I have this blog now, and in light of the fact that I don't seem to keep much to myself these days, I thought it only made sense to share them this year with everyone.

I know the whole "making resolutions" thing seems like a lot of bullshit to most. Why would anyone think the first of the year would make someone more serious about doing something than the other 364 days of the year? In fact, if a person has to wait until the first of the year to start something, clearly they don't think it's important enough to do sooner, and therefore, they are probably DOOMED. More than likely, they will be falling off the wagon by the 30th and kicking themselves the rest of the year.

Regardless of this, I am still a fan of the arbitrary, January 1st resolution start date, even if it is doomed-to-fail. I like to think of them more like "promises" than "resolutions". Also, my resolutions pretty much stay the same from year to year, with minor changes, so it doesn't really feel like I'm starting for the first time on January first anyway. January 1st serves more as a reminder that I need to get my act together and focus on my goals. On that day, I rewrite them on a little yellow sticky note and and every week when I flip my planner, they move into that week. They follow me around the entire year, reminding me in a cheerful way of what I'd like to achieve.

For the past year, my sticky note has said the following:

1. Stay fit.

2. Teach the kids some Gujarati.

3. Write a book.

I know that these are a strange bunch of resolutions. Probably the only one everyone can relate to is #1. In my case, "staying fit" means working out at least 3 times a week. I am not really good with eating healthy, so I don't stress myself out by worrying about that if I can manage to be fit by working out alone. I know it's not the best solution, but that's all I can commit to right now. In the future, I hope to also prioritize eating healthy and maybe becoming a vegetarian. Right now, I don't have the energy or interest to do it.

As for why "teaching the kids Gujarati" is on my list, allow me to explain. Of course, I want to teach my kids a whole lot more than just Gujarati. I want them to do well in school, be responsible and trustworthy, be kind, be generous, be good friends and siblings, and learn about their ancestry and culture. All of these things are already in the process of happening. They are an ongoing project that I don't think will ever be complete. (Hell, I'm an ongoing project that I don't think I'll ever complete.) Their teachers and the community and our family all have roles here.

The Gujarati, however, is not going to just "happen" unless I make it happen, if you know what I mean. That's something I need to put on the list so that I am reminded to speak to them in our native tongue now and then, or to expose them to it in classes or in the community. I know it's not necessary for them to learn Gujarati, but there is some deep desire in me to at least try and give them that gift, however useless it may be in the future. Mostly, I am appreciative that my parents taught it to me. I hope it will help them better understand their roots. Besides, anything a person learns and knows empowers them. I would love for them to be rich with knowledge.

Lastly, the sticky note said "write a book" for the last couple of years and incredibly, that goal finally happened (though we won't go into its quality right here). I do think I employed a little bit of what people call "The Secret" in completing the thing. No, it wasn't magic, but there is something to be said for telling yourself constantly, weekly, daily, that this is what you want to do. Somehow, not only do you start thinking and working toward that goal, but so do other people. I never knew what they meant by that, but now I do. I told so many people that I wanted to write a book, that I was writing a book, and you know what, at some point, some of them (not all) stopped laughing at me long enough to say, "you know what, I think she's going to write a book!" and then the next thing that happened was whenever they heard anything about writing books, they would let me know. If an interesting article came up, or when NaNoWriMo came up, or when someone found a book that was about writing that I should read, or if they read an inspirational writing quote, or if they knew about a writing conference I might be interested in, or if they knew a friend who was an editor, or if they knew about a contest or if they had heard about someone who was accepting stories, they called, emailed, facebooked, or texted me. It was in that manner that my book has finally been written: with the help of many, many friends and family members who kept sending me more info and help. (Thank you so much guys!!!)

So, what I'm trying to say is this: I think the power of reminding yourself of your dream frequently and being brave enough to tell everyone about it is that then the whole world conspires with you and helps you achieve it. Seriously. Yes, there are the people who may not support you and who are cynics and who think you will fail and think it ludicrous. (These people exist everywhere and you can't take them personally. In fact, you should feel very sorry for them, because if truth be told, they are so cynical that not only do they think you can't achieve your ridiculous goals, but they also don't think they could achieve goals like that. Therefore, they don't even bother trying anything. They consider this a smart way to live, but we know better. How sad to have so little faith in yourself and humanity! We should pity them. And then, we should prove them wrong!)

*wink*

Anyway, for 2010, my resolutions are pretty much staying the same except that number 3 is now going to be "Edit the book" and I'm adding a 4th resolution: "Write another book." (Yes, I'm a crazy person!)

Finally, I'd like to leave you all with a fabulous quote that a wonderful nurse-friend gave to me last year. It's on a magnet that used to hang on my locker at work and which now hangs on my fridge. It's something I like to remind myself often, but especially at the start of a brand new year, and something that I hope you will take to heart as well:

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. Think only the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you! --Christian D. Larson

Happy New Year everyone! May all your resolutions come true!