I was never one to set resolutions. The New Year was always a huge deal about upping in age, because, for some reason, age mattered a lot to me. As a student, New Year always brought about much excitement for starting a new school year (I love school, for real). But 2015 has been nothing but a year of changes, growing up, maturing and handling larger things. And because of that, I felt like I was ready to take on some challenges, although seemingly common and boring, for 2016.
Resolutions are strange things. They're somehow only implemented at the beginning of each new year. If people were as gungho about bettering themselves throughout the year, the world would be in a much better place. Imagine how packed gyms would be, how well health food restaurants would be doing and how much knowledge will be gained if people created resolutions all throughout the year. Better in regular intervals than only once a year, right?
Without further ado, for the first time ever, check out my resolutions for 2016!
1. Run/jog/walk 6km a week.
Obviously it's not going to be six whole kilometers in one go (what are you, crazy?). Splitting them up into two or three sessions will make good use of the dusty treadmill that's decomposing at home. I'm implementing this in hopes of seeing my stamina improve. Just for once I'd like to climb a flight of stairs without panting, feeling dizzy or having jelly legs.
2. Read one book a month.
With a backlog of over seventy books from January 2015's Big Bad Wolf haul, I feel the bookshelf screaming at me, feeling untouched and neglected. The new and perfect book spines jeer at my busyness while the well-thumbed books from my childhood shout encouraging words to the new arrivals: "Don't worry! She'll read you soon. Just hang in there." The unread books feel skeptical. Does Jessica really have that much of a love for reading as all her childhood books claim?
3. Take my violin exam.
After three whole years of music education without exams, I suddenly missed having to prepare to play for an intimidating examiner from the land of Queen Elizabeth. I missed the horror of squeaking out a wrong note in the incredibly soundproofed hotel room. I missed the examiner's seemingly neutral face that tried its best to hide her disappointment. I missed scrabbling for notes in the sight-reading tests and singing slightly off-pitch for the aural tests. But most of all, I missed the satisfaction of knowing that my efforts in upgrading my musical abilities have been recorded momentously on a certificate with golden script. So this year, no matter what, I will take my violin exam and put the qualification to good use. Hopefully.
Signing off,
Jessica Chen
(6th January 2016)