2009

it's almost time to say goodbye to 2009! since i promised myself i will spend most of tomorrow cleaning up (my room, car, laptop files, etc.) to semi-superstitiously make sure my 2010 will not be "messy", i'm gonna post my last blog entry for this year.

2009 was mostly my "just do it" year. i told myself that when it comes to things i want to try/do, if it's worth it, i should rein in my over-analyzing tendencies and just go ahead and pursue it. it has worked out for me quite well, so hopefully, i will be able to keep this up even when 2009 has come and gone. i sort of have a resolution for 2010, but i'll keep that to myself for now, since i haven't finalized it yet, hehehe!

so, to pick up where i left off (which was september), i flew to the east coast during the labor day weekend to see a couple of college friends. new york was my first stop, boston was next.

new york was AWESOME! i would love to go back there and see more places that i wasn't able to see due to the time constraints. it was great seeing the landmarks, watching a broadway musical and witnessing the US Open (too bad i missed federer and nadal, hehehe)!!! i hope i get to visit again next year =)



i was looking forward to seeing boston too, so i can catch up with my thesis partner and check out the top-notch universities it is known for. i really liked the architecture of the city buildings and the slower pace was a welcome change (especially after NY, where the itinerary was very hectic). big thanks to DD for showing me around and patiently taking lots of pictures with me =)



two months later, i went to chicago over the thanksgiving weekend to see some college friends again. i was surprised how clean the downtown area was, especially for an urban city! the deep-dish pizza (among others) was YUMMY. the people were nice (and very well-dressed). our "host family" was very warm and welcoming. it's definitely a city worth checking out! =)



this month, i opted to stay in the bay area during the christmas holidays, mainly to save more vacation days next year and some moolah, of course. it feels so nice to look back on this year and realize that i've explored new places and seen familiar faces along the way. i hope there will be more of that next year as well. a few unpleasant things also happened, but i learned from those experiences, so i hope i will be better equipped for similar situations in the future too.

so... here's to what will hopefully be a pleasantly memorable 2010! i hope there will be more to learn, more to be thankful for and more to be happy about. cheers! =)

"enlightenment"

it just hit me tonight that 2009 will probably go down as one of those years that i've kind of grown up. i won't go into too much detail, but this has been the year where my outlook has evolved in a lot of things.

i've become less "bitter" and more accepting about (and not merely resigned to) some things that i could not change.

i've learned to distinguish when to keep working on something ["it's worth it"] and when to let it take its course and not force the issue ["it's not worth it"] (less eager to please! less "drama"!).

i've learned to recognize slight changes in my mood and attribute that change to the right trigger/catalyst.

i've gotten less defensive on sensitive subjects [mostly because i have identified what my sensitive subjects are], which helped in handling touchy situations more effectively.

i've learned to embrace change more gracefully, rather than resist it, delay it or be in denial about it.

even my BS radar has improved by leaps and bounds, just because i don't let myself get in the way of how i perceive things around me anymore, or at least not as much as i used to.

in general, i feel like i'm more "at peace" and that i have acquired a little more of that "happy balance" that i aim/wish for.

i still over-analyze and over-think petty (and not-so-petty) stuff and there are still some things that are lacking in so many ways, but it's nice to know that i learned a thing or two over the past few years.

let's see na lang how it goes after i have a few more years in me =)