New Year New Hopes

Wow it's already 20 days into the new year!  It's time for an update.

There's so much to write as usual, but so little time.  I am forever writing stories and blog posts in my head but getting them down into the blog page is another matter altogether.

I was making new year resolutions that went in the vein of read more, write more, speak more, sing more and exercise more.  That is 5 mores! Quite ambitious huh?  Then I read a magazine article that advises we focus on just ONE resolution so we can really work at it. So which one shall I choose?

At least I've started on singing (went karaoke to celebrate Diane's birthday hehe..) and speaking (presented my storytelling AP5 on 14 Jan... YES!!).  Oh yes and I've done my brisk walk once... just that dismal one time... haha... I've just written one article for my tm blog and now I'm writing the 2nd one... not bad. I've read quite a few magazines so far... the books i bought are piling up collecting dust... hmmmm...

I've been thinking about waking up half an hour earlier every morning to exercise but my bed is too tantalising... I find it hard to wake up every morning.  Jayden is still perpetually late for school.  Sigh... what a bad mother I am.

Oh what the heck! let's just do all of them.  And some more... let's make it TEN resolutions haha... I shall give an account of exactly how many books I've read, how many blog articles I've written, how many speeches I've presented, how many times I've sung at karaoke and how many times I've exercised. 

JONI'S TOP TEN RESOLUTIONS:
1. Read more (magazines and books and THE BIBLE!!)
2. Write more (count number of blog posts)
3. Speak more (count number of speech articles posted on "Odyssey of Discovery" blog)
4. Sing more (count number of sessions to ktv)
5. Exercise more (count number of exercise sessions and time taken for each session)
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6. De-clutter more (my room is a perpetual mess!)
7. Pray more
8. Forgive more
9. Praise more
10. Love more

The first 5 are the SMART goals,  the rest are the intangibles, uncalculable but good for the spirit and soul stuff.  Must learn to speak gentle words that turn away wrath and keep anger at bay.  Anger is rearing its ugly head far too often and making my life miserable. 

I want to feel happy this year.  I want be peace-loving this year.  Away with anger and resentment and hatred and hurtful words.  May the Lord grant empowerment to live a life that shines for Him!

I dedicate this poem by Helen Steiner Rice to myself and all my friends:


Climb Till Your Dreams Come True

often your task will be many,
and more than you think you can do..
often the hills insurmountable, too..
but always remember..
the hills ahead are never as steep as they seem,
and with faith in your heart, start upward
and climb 'til you reach your dream.
for nothing in life that is worthy
is ever too hard to achieve
if you have the faith to believe..

for faith is a force that is greater
than knowledge or power or skill
and many defeats turn to triumph
if you trust in God's wisdom and will..
there is nothing that God cannot do,
so start out today with faith in your heart
and climb 'til your dream comes true.