New Year 08

A bit late, but whatever.
Happy New Year 2008!!!

We've ended yet another year of the Noughties, and moving ever closer to that magical 2010, when we get back into the Teenies - haha, it sounds less like a name for a decade and more like a children's entertainment group.

Well, 2007, a year in focus ...
It's been an incredibly tumultuous and eventful year.

February, the big scandal hit - my dad was having an affair, and it all came out when my mum found dubious text messages on his phone. It's a pity really, my mum came home all distressed, torn up and in tears. My dad ended up being distant while he was in Vietnam, trying to have fun but not being able to because of the situation.
I had a taste of independence, what life would be like with no parents around. That lasted two days. Those two days were glorious.

The first semester was average, not great, but average. Some pretty bad things happened that I feel really turned me off what I was studying at the moment.
The first was a really bad day in the lab - I couldn't seem to get a properly forming gel, and was really falling behind everyone else. I ended up behind everyone else the whole semester. The absolute frustration of having the gel not forming properly, not to mention getting zero on both that prac and the following one, is something that really grated on my mind. If there are times like that, where its just failure after failure and you can't figure out WHY, then I feel it's like hitting your head against a brick wall.
I had another really bad day the first day of the semester break. I thought the test we had was on at 2pm, not 1pm. And as a result, I came in an hour late, and as a result, I get a crap mark (I had no idea what to do anyways -_-), and the lecturer ends up hating me for the rest of the year.
I was in a car accident - a mild one at that, but it imprinted into me how quickly the situation can change. I was turning onto West Lakes Boulevard in extreme rain, and then my car loses control and I end up fishtailing and another car gets too close and bumps into the back of my Skyline. It was a sobering, sobering reminder of how dangerous the roads can be if not taken seriously.

Exams were a ... mixed bag. I swear, my fingers were numb and bleeding by the time those exams finished, especially after I wasn't at first ready to deal with the traffic, and ended up chucking a sickie and getting the first exam deferred, and getting passable marks for the rest of the subjects. I never thought that I'd be able to write so much.

Second semester ... At some points, it just fell apart. At other points, it was great. I ended up making the other lecturers dislike me, because I seemed to have become chronically late to lectures, or skip them if I felt like it. By this time, I had little motivation left in class, and I hated it. I wasn't part of any particular clique, and I didn't particularly feel like looking like a tryhard like I had done the previous year following one clique around in the hope of getting accepted into that clique. It made it a lot harder in the prac labs when everyone's joking around while waiting for their gel to run/PCR to finish, and I'm sitting there doing shit-all but writing in my prac book. It was barely bearable.

With all the bad shit out of the way, let's look at the good bits.
I've been seriously working on my body this year, and I feel it is showing somewhat. After undertaking the endeavour of getting myself strong enough for the 300 challenge (which I didn't do), I ended up coasting and doing other stuff, before I finally decided to fully dedicate myself 100% to changing my image to someone more slim and better-looking. I've cleaned up my diet and know that I have established better eating habits. I'm a lot thinner than I was last year, and a lot more healthy and fit.

I've done a lot of cool stuff this year.
I joined a Toastmasters club in February, and I've given four speeches so far. I am loving Toastmasters, which surprised me. Especially when I get up to speak, it's an amazing feeling. That mixture of nervousness, anxiety, and concentration in the moment, and the great feeling of relaxing afterwards when you sit back down, it's the best.
I've taken salsa dancing classes. I always considered myself something of a dancer, and now I have a great way to express my feelings through dance. Even though I've only got the basics down at the moment, and have a rather limited repertoire, I intend to continue with lessons in 2008 and advance my dancing skills.
I've also recently joined a krav maga dojo, and learning more about combative martial arts, to protect myself and give me the confidence not to back down when I'm faced with an adverse situation.
I lost my virginity this year - something that should have happened sooner, but I'm glad it happened now instead of when I am something like 40. Noone wants to be a 40-year-old virgin. Sex is nothing like what I expected it would be. The sensation of sex is a lot different from what I'd imagined. A lot more ... primitive and base.
I did manage to have something of a relationship (although it was hard how to class it - at the same time casual and romantic). It was nice being in a relationship, having someone I could project my feelings onto, and who would return those feelings. It was also nice to actually be able to go out on dates (yes, dorky, I know), and take someone out just to have some fun together. I'd like to do that a lot more in 2008. Unfortunately, we broke up - it wasn't working, so I called it off.

Looking back at my goals:
For 2007, they were

1) Get straight Distinctions for all my subjects. This I will strive towards with all of my power.

2) Save up $10,000 for the J-Trip to Japan that I plan to go on at the end of the year. I have already managed to enlist a couple of travelling companions, so all that is to be done now is find more and get the cheapest prices we can.

3) Get my weight down from 81kg down to 70-71kg. By the end of the year, I want to have sculpted a body that I'm immensely proud of - a visible six-pack, well-toned arms, legs and upper body, and a rock-stable core.

4) Get myself a girlfriend. Although I haven't seen The 40 Year-Old Virgin, I certainly don't want to end up with a title like that. As well as that, I really want the female company. I want a woman who will stand behind me, and support me as we move on through this adventurous voyage that is called Life.

Well, with 2007 gone, let's look at them in hindsite.
1) Get straight distinctions.
I failed to achieve this one horribly. I had the drive in the beginning, but the toxic class atmosphere, not to mention the really bad days described above really put me off, and killed off most motivation for me to get through. Pending the results of a supplementary exam, I will be out of university and into the real world, where academic grades don't mean squat.

2) Save up $10,000 for the J-Trip to Japan that I plan to go on at the end of the year
With end-of-year arrangements with friends falling through and financial problems (apparently I don't get my tax money back until the end of the year, so I couldn't buy tickets), I ended up not going to Japan, and instead sitting back here. On the other hand, my parents did end up paying off my credit card debt for me, so I am now officially free of credit card debt. Which goes some way I suppose - they paid off almost $6000 of credit card debt, so I suppose I should be somewhat thankful. But I need to clean up my spending habits and try to be less of an impulse spender.

3) Get my weight down from 81kg down to 70-71kg
Well, I'm certainly not at the estimated 71kg, but I'm getting there. All year I've been hovering between 81-79kg, unable to move below 79kg. It was like I'd hit a wall. But I finally managed to achieve it, penetrating the 79kg barrier and hitting a personal best of 77kg. I gained a couple of kilos in the last couple of weeks due to the horrible (health-wise) food I ended up having to eat over the Christmas holidays - something which I resented greatly. However, I know that I can work that off easily. 2008 is looking very good - a year of image change since I have my diet all set now.

4) Get myself a girlfriend
This one, happily, I did fulfil. I did have a somewhat stable relationship for about 5-6 months this year, from July to November. I also had several other possible girls, but unfortunately, I couldn't follow up with those. I did get results! I'm very glad that I did fulfil this goal. I had something approaching a girlfriend, we'd go out and do stuff together, it was fun. In 2008 I hope to have a lot more fun romantically.

All up, a semi-successful year, I'd suppose. I fulfilled one of the goals, I managed some progress to the other two goals as well.

For 2008, I have some goals in mind that I want to accomplish:

1) Write a book
I want to become an established writer. What's the best way to that? Write a book and get published. I can work and do that on the side, in my spare time. It is achievable, I have to draw up a project plan and deadlines to work to.

2) Lose weight, and get down to 10% body fat
In my studies over the past year on weight loss, I've found that it's better to focus on fat content rather than overall body weight, since once I cut down slim enough, I'll be putting weight back on - as muscle. This year will be a year of change and growth.

3) Become a better man
I want to develop myself in as many ways as possible. In the area of personal excellence, in the area of romance and dating, in the area of martial prowess, in the area of public speaking. I want to become a better overall person. As I become a better man, my energy will rise and rise, until I am like a sun in the darkness of ordinary life. I will shine, I will become a light in the darkness of the drudgery of normal life.