2015 Kick Starter

Now this is the exciting part. This is the first time I am actually doing a year kick starter. Usually, I do a year ender where I surmise the learnings of the past year. But this time, I will do a kick starter where I will outline the goals for the year.

I have done this for 2014 but it’s the first time I will actually blog about it. It makes everything more exciting because come 2015 year end, I will have a benchmark post of what has happened vs what has been planned / goaled.

To begin with, here’s a list of what I hope to accomplish this 2015:

  • Own my very first car – I am claiming an Innova because it’s practical, fits a lot of people, conserves gas and high enough to withstand flooded streets
  • Go on a mission trip – and even several mission trips
  • Visit Israel
  • Formulate my own personal business venture – 2014 has seen me tried several ones. I am still in pursuit of where I can channel my passion profitably.
  • Open a stock market account – and trade actively. I’ve watched the stock market for so long I want to be in on the action.
  • Travel and see VIGAN — even if I have to do it on my own
  • Climb a mountain – Maculot or Pico de Loro will do

For now this is it. I have come from a background of long lists – not much accomplished. Now I am narrowing down my list and staying focused to target more of them. If my list of accomplishments and highlights go beyond this, then all the more will I be grateful.

For indeed, I am blessed and I believe that God has amazing and wonderful plans in store for me.

Hello 2015!

2014 Year Ender

It’s almost 3 hours past when the clock stroke 12 and everyone greeted 2015 with a bang. Most have gone to bed now, exhausted with the parties and anticipation of welcoming a new year. While here I am, catching up with my year ender post.

Year ends are a great time for me to reflect on what has taken place in the past year. It’s something that has become a habit – something that made me believe I am an introspective, and therefore, an introvert person. This year I have made my introspection and most have been posted in Facebook. Yet I believe that my blog still deserves a full on explanation of what I have mused about regarding how my 2014 has been.

2014 has been a year of discoveries and reunions for me.

Discoveries were big in the sense that I started a new job in a technically new place. The job proved to be a bit boring at the beginning but now things have sped up and I find myself challenged across all fronts. Another year of the same sounds appealing. Although I have returned to Manila, I have never worked or lived in Makati. Discovering the country’s prime business district and the lifestyle in the area has been fun and challenging. It certainly fueled my desire for discovery. I realized that I was born for this and I thrive in the hustle and bustle of the city.

Another big discovery was my passion for arts – well the flow arts. It was an accidental one but responding to the adventurous me, I endeavored to enter the world of fire spinners, hoping to spin fire myself. Although lacking practice and not 100% engaging with the art, the mere fact that I am doing something so foreign to me a year ago is good enough. It’s a discovery.

A discovery tied up to a reunion is my involvement with a local church. I have reunited or reinforced or revived my relationship with my Savior thereby effectively ending a 5-year hiatus. Along with it came the discovery of a dynamic church and the teachings that comes with it.

Reunions were big for 2014. Of course, what do I expect since I came back to the place I spent close to 5 years of my growing up life. The place where all my social networks are tied in. During the first part of the year, I made the effort and initiative to meet with all sectors of my social life – from former churchmates, orgmates, batchmates, etc. There are still more reunions to come but I must say I have settled into a comfortable schedule of seeing people. This is where I saw how much of an extrovert I really am.

The highlights of my 2014 in a list (just in case I forget when the years roll by):

  • Jesus Rocks Church
  • VA
  • Flow Arts Philippines
  • Pisay HS Reunion
  • 3x UPCC Old Core Kitaans
  • Makati Lifestyle
  • Puerto Galera
  • Breakup aka Freedom
  • New Friends – Housemates and Workmates

2015 is bound to be brighter – and I know it will be.

2014 Blog In Review – Based on WP Stats

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

2013 in review

I have planned to create a year-ender post just to recap how my 2013 has been. But hours and days passed by and I wasn’t able to get around to writing it. Today, I was reminded of my plan by WordPress’ stats report. A look at my blog posts has been dismal – it’s not what I would want but then again who am I to complain when I haven’t been such an active blogger?

But active blogging aside, I have had a very eventful and positive 2013. Making me look forward to an even brighter 2014. This 2013 seems to the be year when everything came into focus and everything I went through the past couple of years started to make sense. This year also made me all the more aware of what my succeeding years hold for me. And how I plan for them to pan out.

I must say that I had a really blessed 2013. And further more, this year marks the end of another chapter in my life and the start of a new one. I have a thriving love life :), a more focused financial life, a brand new job and endless and limitless possibilities to explore.

Thank you Lord for a great 2013! I look forward to a wonderful 2014!

 

Below is the auto-generated WP post about the stats summary they sent via email.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,900 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Hello 2013!

This is a new year post. This is a personal post. And like any new year personal post, it is a reflection of the past year and an anticipation of the year to come. So I lay to rest for a while my political posts, my intellectual posts and all other posts I claim to be impersonal but are really more personal than I care to admit.

Hopefully, as I have tried again and again, a blog dated with the first day of the year would be a positive sign of regular blog posts to come though we are wise enough to know that superstitions are mere kid’s fantasies and everything all boils down to action and determination.

So quite a lot has happened in 2012. We moved to a new house, not yet our own but I do admit I love the bigger space. A major death hit the family a year after another major death but this has been pivotal for it brought together lost souls and hopefully mended broken hearts. Revelations were made – for the good or the bad only time will tell. Promotions were given though hardly completed. I guess 2012 did had a lot in store of it.

Yet overall, I felt it was a very passive year for me. Passive because most of what happened were things really beyond my control. The things that were indeed within my sphere of influence were mediocre at their best. I started school but not with my first choice. My work performance has been riveting but not grandiose in my evaluation. Overall, I think 2012 was so-so.

So how do I want 2013 to be? Chinese astrology predicts that for me this year would just be a repeat of 2012. Heaven forbid! I hope it is not! But since I’ve always believed in crafting one’s own destiny, I approach 2013 with a more positive outlook.

Top of the list will be to get a move on with Him. I know I need Him back. I need that moving and passionate relationship with Him so I am determined to really make this happen this year. Of course, it is only by His Grace that things will do move but it takes two to tango. A close second is to get a grip of my financial life. For a year, I’ve read and learned as much as I can, I think it is time to put it to use. The third one is closely related to the second. Do what it takes to get a grip of my finances and future earth investment. First goal is to take care of my eternal investment and second goal tied to third is to get a grip of my earthly investment.

Essentially, these are my two major goals. All the rest stems and flows from them, I dare not make the list too long lest I loose focus and, scarily, procrastinate,

But seeing as it is the first day of the year, let me savor the day and backtrack a little.

The holidays has been quite a treat for us. For one, daddy is here to physically celebrate it with us after not being able to do so for several years now. Who knows if next Christmas he’ll be with us again. I certainly hope so but doubt it highly likely. Second, I’ve never seen us produce so much food for one occasion. Indeed, it has been such a long time since so much food has been laid on the table. It’s enough to last us a week! Indeed, we are so blessed and I feel that everyday, and with every bite.

The new year has also been different for me this year because there was less pomp – social wise. Despite the impressive fireworks display left and right in the neighborhood we reside in – something I’ve never witnessed in my past community – there remains in me the feeling that 2012 has seen me somewhat estranged from my once numerous social circles. Oh I have a thousand facebook friends but I have already experienced that despite the robust social technology, I am more alienated than ever. Probably it’s my fault. I suck at communicating especially long distance but this hasn’t been the way I envisioned my social life to be. Wherever the fault is or whatever happened, the fact remains – I have drifted. Far and wide. So why is this not part of my 2013 goals? Frankly, I feel empty that I feel I have nothing much left to share. And so, I need to fulfill goal 1 to be full once again to the brim and to overflowing.

So there, this has been my 2013 post. A first, I daresay, in my almost 10 years of blogging on and off. Whatever 2013 has in store for me, I vow to make things happen and not to sit around idly looking as life passes me by leaving fate to do things for me.

Happy new year to those who’ve read this far. Thank you for even reading.

Post Script:

So this has a post script because, while reading Facebook posts by friends listing the major and minor things that made their 2012 great, I realized I had much to be grateful for as well. But since I am slightly averse to baring my soul in Facebook (weird considering those are my “friends” vs the public who reads my blog), I will write my list here.

    I am grateful for my singleness. And the new focus I have which is work and studies. Somehow it has shown me how strong I can be and how much more I have to live and discover.
    I am grateful for my random, unexpected meetings with friends. Though not really the people I’ve been close with from my elementary, high school and college days, these people has shown me how precious friendships are and how, in the greater scheme of things, acquaintances in the past can prove to be crucial and close friendships in the future. (Or perhaps in the ever expanding world of social networks and the shrinking world of physical connections, you take whatever physical friendships you can get.)
    I am grateful for the new places I’ve been, the new culinary delights I’ve experienced, the representations I made and the new people I met – famous and otherwise.
    I am grateful for the new gadgets I owned and the convenience they’ve brought me.

Vague I know but I can never be too specific. Overall, though I have much to yearn for and want for 2013 to happen, I am still grateful for the year that passed. It taught me a lot and made me experience so much – little and otherwise.

And since the new year is a time to reflect and to plan, then so be it. The past teaches us lessons that we need to live in the present and to move forward to the future.

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