Howdy 2012?

My instinct couldn't have been more right when, on the eve of New Years Day 2011, it whispered to me that this was going to be a year of promise and that there were great things in store for me.

It was honestly the BEST in a long, long time, only ups, no downs.

But I didn't feel anything this time. There was no excitement, no adrenaline rush. Only a dim curiosity as to whether I grew at all as a person the past year. I did a bit, I became a little less reticent because of which I met some truly wonderful people.
I didn't believe any of the hoohah about the world ending in 2012, but just brooding about an Armageddon (not necessarily at the end of this year), death in short, made me wonder if I was ready for it.

Definitely not.
During the course of 2011 much of humankind was subject to some natural disaster or the other, it was hardly any less of an apocalypse for those that died as nature took its course. We all have a vague inkling that we could kick the bucket at any time, which is why we prepare bucket lists, selfishly obsessed with living life to the fullest. In the end, most of our lists are quite shallow. Which is okay, but they shouldn't remain thus. How many items on our lists would benefit anyone but ourselves?

Two days post New Year's, at the risk of sounding emo (and a little cheesy), I have finally come up with something simple, something worth keeping. I won't call them all resolutions, but the timing is ideal, as it gives me a year to track my progress.

1. Remember back in kindergarten your teacher encouraged you to perform three good deeds everyday? I don't remember doing that in forever. No, I'm definitely not a total self-absorbed moron. But I would like to be more altruistic.
2. Never. Stop. Learning.
3. Exercise complete capabilities and mental faculties in the execution of a task. 
4. Continue having awesome experiences and meeting awesome people.
5. Read more classics. 
6. Get published. 
7. No rice. No bread. Which is going to kill me 'coz I friggin' LOVE bread.
8. Dream. Write. Blog. As soon as an idea creeps into my noggin... WRITE IT DOWN!!

This should do for now. Since my instinct is silent on the subject (which is a bit of a letdown), all I can do now is continue taking things in my stride.

Tracking the progress made on the resolutions (these were resolutions) made on the dawning of 2011:

1. Find a job by Jan end.
Well, I didn't find a job per se. By mid-year, I altered the deadline to Dec end (still no job). But, I got into freelancing for social media marketing, got some experience, earned some dough. That's got to count for something.

2. Move base to a country where I know no one and no one knows me. And keep it that way.
   And if THAT doesn't work out, visit atleast ONE country that isn't India, Kuwait or the UAE.
Needless to say, the first option didn't work out. BUT!! I visited, not one, not two but SIX previously uncharted lands! Uncharted on my map anyway. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Germany and Turkey.

3. Write something remotely decent that'll throw the world into shock and awe.
I'm going to tweak this one a bit. I wrote this, which is definitely my best piece so far, and though it isn't published anywhere except on this blog, it received a lot of adulation from the people in my world.

4. Make memories doing something totally unconventional, innovative, avant-garde. Things so thrilling, I'll never have trouble remembering them and will relish the thoughts of. Coz life is too short to be taken seriously.
Euro trip, bungee jumping. 'Nuff said!

5. Never, ever leave home without the camera and take a picture every time the thought 'I should take a picture of that' crosses my mind.

Arghh. There were many instances wherein I cursed myself for not carrying my camera. So let's not count this one.

4 out of 5 accomplished. That's pretty good. Best track record so far! =D

I hope I stay true to the ones made for 2012. Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year.