It’s not the first time I spent the New Year’s on my bed, waiting for the clock to strike twelve and then go back to sleep. Believe me, it’s not as bad as it sounds – it’s actually very peaceful and has given me time to pray and recall the highlights, both ups and downs of my past year: the travels (Bohol, Donsol, Legazpi, Sorsogon, Bangkok, Misibis, and Caramoan), the attempts to diet and exercise (yes, attempts meant my trials and failures), finally giving golf a try and falling in love with it slowly and surely, helping out plan and implement three of my closest friends’ weddings while simultaneously being a bridesmaid and a maid of honor, finding new reasons to be passionate about my work, and learning once again how to exist in and survive in a long distance relationship as RGR had to leave to study his masters abroad.
Generally, 2012 has been good to me. I just know that I need to step it up another notch this 2013. I’m 28 and in two years I will be hitting the big 3-0, and although I am happy where I am now, I need to keep on going to be where I want to be when I reach that age. This is not just professionally and financially, but also on my emotional and spiritual level.
Last year, I learned that in lieu of New Year’s Resolutions, it’s so much easier to summarize one’s goals in just one word. A word that will serve as a mantra of some sort. Last year, mine was CENTER. Last 2011, I felt that I tried so hard to do everything and didn’t learn when and how to stop, that it exhausted me so much. It was so hard to be perfect and please everyone around me. I got hurt at the smallest remarks, even though I shouldn’t. So when 2012 came, I promised myself that I will just work from my own center – the core of my being, and not rely on the criticisms and praises of the people around me. This helped me focus on what matters, and helped me find the right amount of passion I should be investing in every project I got myself into. It also made it easier for me to forgive myself in the small boo boos that I made, knowing that I gave it my best shot. I was no longer a slave to anything or anyone.
This year, I would like to focus on three words: NEAT, FIT and LIGHT.
Neat – I’m not particularly vain. I don’t like wearing tons of makeup, and there are days when I just pull whatever from my closet and wear it to work. I guess when I gained weight, I also lost that teeny tiny bit of interest in dressing up or fixing myself. I don’t think I look like a mess, not most of the time. But it’s not only once that I’ve heard how attractive I can be if only I just learn how to fix myself. Again, I am not particularly vain. I don’t want to be a beauty queen but I want to look neat and smart – all the time. Not just sometimes. I’m finally growing up. Yay!
Fit – Of my 28 years of existence, this is my heaviest. Seriously. And I’m talking about a 25-lb difference in a span of 3 years. As time passes, I really feel that my metabolism is becoming slower and slower. Not only that, I have consumed my 15-day sick leaves at work! All of them! Extra effort is needed, and it’s not just to lose weight, but to be fit and healthy. So this year, I would like to be fit. Nothing too drastic, but gradual changes can be done so I can be at my prime.
Light – Being a control-freak has some disadvantages – when things don’t go your way you end up with a heavy heart. But life’s too short to cry over things that don’t matter much, and this year, I would like to feel light about everything that life throws at me – enjoy the good things and face the bad things.
Neat, Fit, Light. Neat, Fit, Light. Neat, Fit Light. 2013 is going to be another awesome year. 
