2012 AGENDA

New Year's Resolution? Not my language anymore! For the past years that I've been creating a list of New Year's Resolution, most of it never happened, if not, nothing ever materialized. Why? Simple answer: we cannot change overnight. Change is a long process, and spiral, so you can just imagine how difficult it is. If you want to change, first accept that life is difficult. :D We can't just make magic wishing to change our attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, perspectives, just because it cross our minds. Change is commitment and it's a work in progress. So, for 2012, I don't have a new year's resolution. I am happy with my life so I don't want to promise changing anything, especially with regards to my behaviors. I'll just live life and add MORE COLORS on it! With that, here are my AGENDAs for 2012
QUARTERLY
Learn something totally new, quarterly. It's totally new so decide on what to learn when the opportunity strikes. It can be learning to bake, cook, sing, play musical instrument, driving(?), sports…anything. Just learn a totally new skill. YES. QUARTERLY LEARNING is about skill (other types of learning can come into the other agendas set). So hopefully, at the end of this year, there would be at least 4 new skills learned, or at the very least, tried. :)
MONTHLY: Arranged in the order of importance
1. Attend to the group gatherings in each role in life. I have these roles in life: (1) 'sharpening the saw' (personal: physical, mental, social, spiritual); (2) Family member; (3) Student; (4) Volunteer; (5) Researcher; (6) Employee. Every week, I have designated number of hours for each role, which I hope to strictly follow. So, it is part of my weekly agenda to "meet" the people, or do something that each role requires. One way or another, there would be a day in a month in which I can meet the people behind these roles… and when the opportunity strikes, bring out the camera and capture the moment! GOAL: MAKE SURE TO HAVE A PICTURE WITH THESE PEOPLE WHOM LIFE IS BEING SPENT.
2. Write and be an author. Take note, be an author. It doesn't mean making publications every month. It doesn't also mean, writing for pleasures only (this writing for pleasure, e.g., writing blog entries could be done on a weekly basis). It means writing something that is for publication. Every month, there should be a chapter or so accomplished for a project aimed for publication. This could be for an academic paper like researches or a book! :) IMPORTANT: DOCUMENT those times when you are actually accomplishing this agenda.
3. Visit and explore an entirely new place. Whether on solitude, with the family or with friends, find time every month to have a new adventure in a "foreign" place. It can be planned  ahead of time or just be spontaneous and just do it! Meaning, just bring the "essentials", pack light and be the DORA THE EXPLORER GIRL :) Doesn't need to be expensive. It can be an out-of-town, out-of-the country, or an exploration of a new room in the house, workplace, school, or a new building in the community… or it could be a new spot close to nature in our surrounding! :D Important: DOCUMENT IT! :)
WEEKLY:
1. Spend quality time with the family. Given the reality that we can only spend limited time with the family because of the work demands, studies, personal time, etc., it is important to make the most out of it. Play games with siblings, listen and engage self in a heart-to-heart or light-fun conversation with parents and siblings, eat, watch and do extraordinary things with them.
2. Attend academic classes and be a proactive student. Don't waste three hours of the class day just sitting and listening passively to class. Be proactive. Participate, ask questions, share… maximize learning (and the tuition fee!).
3. Exercise. Doesn't have to be a hard-core exercise. Just find time to walk or jog. Use the time as a bonding time with family or friends or just a time to be in solitude. Listen to music while doing that. Laugh out loud when with family and friends, as it happens. Suggested time: early morning or at night after work and class.
4. Work with passion. A teacher touches lives so make sure to prepare. Since work is the next large part of our life that eats our time, make the most out of it. Work in line with the life mission and with integrity. Well, that's abstract. Making it concrete, come to work with this mindset: Every working day is an exciting day. (This is hard, but take the challenge and bloom.) Come and leave on time. Listen to students, co-teachers, parents, staffs with on open heart and mind. Happy teaching!
5. Read. Just read, read, and read. It may be a part of a book (academic, fiction, inspirational, ect.), newspaper, blog entry, web page, or a message or letter. Make the words add spices on each week! :) To make this agenda more fun: make sure to read a different genre in a different place every week! How would that be possible? Use creativity and spontaneity. 
6. Be productive. Volunteer and Research. The difference between volunteer work and research work with that of the work as an employee, is not just that it is not being compensated with money, but that these two are more internally motivated than the work as an employee. In a week, prioritize between the two. Which is more important to be accomplished in a particular week? Is it possible to divide the allotted time in a 50-50 basis? If not, which agenda will get the more weight? Discern. The beauty of a research and volunteer work is that these two agendas are direct-long-term ways of leaving actual legacies in this life…plus it is a sure ball avenue of meeting new friends and discovering new things.
DAILY - 10 in a day:
1. Eat - Make sure to have 3 meals per day. Eating time can be maximized by making it a bonding time with the family, peers, and friends.
2. Sleep - According to the weekly time-allotment, a week has 56 hrs allotted time for sleep. Maximize it and let's see the difference :) If you want to know the incredible magical importance and magical effect of sleep, google it.
3. Work - Of course, on a typical day… go to work and work with the heart.
4. Play - Have time to play. Use the creative juices.
5. Pray - I didn’t allot a weekly agenda to go to church. I can't promise that. But I can pray every single day. Prayer is a powerful thing. God is always there to guide us.
6. Smile - smile often, be happy.
7. Delay gratification - remember the marshmallow experiment, or the 'gulp the frog first thing in the morning' thing, or the jar-stone-gravel-pebbles-sand story. In other words, it always pays of to delay gratification.
8. LOVE - self-explanatory. A dosage of love everyday makes the world a round rainbow a day, if you know what I mean.
9. Learn - think and reflect. It always pays of to do that, too.
10. Express gratitude - other than "please", the other most important word is "thanks".
Making all these agendas materialized wouldn't be that easy. But always remember: life is difficult. And this is LIFE, Aylin. :) Surely, this 2012 will be full of colors!
P.S. Make sure to take a physical and medical check-up twice a year, or at least once a year :P