Bonnes Résolutions

I'm a little late on my New Year resolutions, but this time around, I really wanted to take some time to reflect on them before committing myself.  So after a lot of thinking (mainly done airborne, at the airport, or during long métro rides), I've finally come up with a list that I think will make me a smarter, healthier, happier, more creative human being who also contributes more to the community around her.  So in no particular order, here are my bonnes résolutions pour 2013.

1 :: Be a more positive person rather than harping on negative details or difficulties.  Likewise, surround myself with more optimistic people and stay away from those who bring negative energy.

2 :: Speak to my French partner 80% of the time in French.  (I'm tempted to say 100% but am also too scared to commit fully!  I shall have to discuss with him how we are going to enforce this new New Year rule...)

3 :: Take time to set up, furnish, and decorate my new Parisian apartment to make it the cosy, loving, positive creative space that I want it to be.

4 :: Cook healthy meals more often at home.  Meaning less bread, rice, and easy carbs and more fresh meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables.  (Something more easily said than done in the land of baguettes, cheese, and pastries!)

5 :: Fix my right shoulder (where my Canadian physiotherapist thinks I've injured my rotator cuff) so that I can finally go snowboarding, dancing, and running again!

6 :: Taking no. 5 into consideration, exercise at least 2x a week and eventually get myself to a point where I can consider training for the Paris Marathon or even Half-Marathon in 2014.

7 :: Finally get my wisdom teeth taken out - they have been starting to hurt so sorely!  :*(

8 :: Pay off my debts to zero by the end of the year!

9 :: Find a way to spend more time with the dearest friends that I have, whether they are in Paris, London, Dubai, Delhi, or New York.

10 :: Make an effort to plan a couple of super cheap weekend trips to places I've never been to before.  At the top of the list are: Munich (Germany), Florence (Italy), Lisbon (Portugal), Sofia (Bulgaria), Bucharest (Romania), Tallinn (Estonia), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Corsica (France).

11 :: Take driving lessons.  Finally.  Even it means doing so in French.  (A decade of living in supercities New York, London, and Paris since I've come of "driving age" meant that I never really needed to learn how to do it.)

12 :: Learn to ski so that a) I can live out one last big "physical learning adventure" in my 20s and b) Raphael doesn't leave me stranded on a flat plain with my snowboard somewhere near Chamonix.

13 :: Read the books that I've outlined in my 2013 Book List.  Also finish reading half of the French books that Raphael gave me in 2011.

14 :: Finish my book project - difficult birth that it is.

15 :: Attend at least 2/3 of my Ecole du Louvre classes.  (With my full-time job, side projects, and travels, it's a challenging thing to do!)

16 :: Take Spanish classes in Paris.  Speak Spanish more often with my (Spanish!) father and my middle sister who lives in Barcelona.  

17 :: Work with a children's charity for a few weeks this year.

18 :: Be a more active mentor to the university students that are my mentees in New York, even if it means doing so from across the Atlantic.

19 :: Take some time to assess whether the Canadian start-up project with Mama is feasible and, if yes, make a business launch plan before the end of the year.

20 :: Now that all of my three siblings and I live in different cities (Vancouver, Toronto, Barcelona, Paris), make an effort to email or call each one of them at least 1x a week.  Similarly, call my parents at home 2x a week to keep them company after their first taste of Empty Nest Syndrome!

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And that closes off my long but painfully thought-out list of New Year's resolutions for 2013!  I'm really looking forward to a more positive, creative, productive, healthy, and loving year ahead of me, whether I am in Paris, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, or elsewhere in this wonderful wide world.  ♥