new year, new promises.

why do people make new year's resolutions? if you stop to think about it, it's actually pretty stupid. what's the difference between december 31st and january 1st? as i get older, the difference gets smaller and smaller every year. i think when i have kids, that's when the holidays will kick back in for me, but right now, the holidays aren't all that big a deal, except for another reason to party.

that being said, i'll stop ranting and list out the things i want to work on this year.

• be more positive. or at least, learn to keep my mouth shut a bit more when nothing but disparaging thoughts come to mind. i don't want to be that guy or be perceived as that guy.
• take things a bit slower. i've gotten into the habit of rushing from one thing to the next, so much so that i can't stop to appreciate things. for example, when eating dinner at home, as soon as i'm done, i'm up and washing the dishes, because that's the next logical thing to do. what's wrong with just sitting and digesting for a bit? or, when cooking, i'm trying to do a million things at once - wash the veggies, cut them, start pan-frying, go, go, go...it's put a real crimp in my culinary skills. this is gonna be a tough habit to break.
• be more decisive. i don't know when i stopped being decisive but i did. i don't have much of an opinion on anything anymore, and that bothers me. i'd like to have a better formed opinion on small things (such as where to go for dinner or what to do over the weekend) to larger things (such as how i feel about unions and its affect on the american workforce).
• corollary to the last one, be better informed. read more. read the news. watch the news (in chinese).
• corollary to the last one (again), if i'm going to go back to asia i should start acting like it. i really don't know crap about business in asia, so it's an "easy to say hard to do" kinda thing. i should devote it the proper due dilligence, since it would be, uh, a HUGE life decision.
• lastly, eat more fruit. you laugh, but seriously. i feel like a lot of my dietary problems start first thing in the morning. i get up and drink coffee for breakfast. as a result, i'm starving at lunch. as a result, i get food coma in the afternoon. i get home, i'm starving again, so i eat too much for dinner, or i munch on chips or something before dinner. repeat x 365. hence, new dietary plan for 2007: fruit + some carb (toast) + coffee in the morning. mid/light lunch. fruit snack in the afternoon. dinner. maybe dessert. go to bed before my brain thinks i need more food.

oh, and lastly lastly - follow through. i'll check back around this time in 2008 to see how i did.