40 Birthday Resolutions: Blogophilia week 45.4 - Angels in the Snow

While rules are meant to be broken, I am a firm believer that we don’t consciously break them except in some extreme situations. In most cases, we try hard to follow them to the end. At least that’s what I attempt to do for my New Year’s Resolutions. But for this year, I don ‘t have New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, I came up with 40 Birthday Resolutions. Why it’s 40? You guessed it right. I just turned 40 recently.

40 Birthday Resolutions:

 1. Watch at least 40 cartoons episodes this year or any  show that will make me laugh more but never regret the wrinkles that it might cause my face .Someone said,

“Laugh a lot and when you’re older, all your wrinkles will be in the right places.”

  

2. Read 40 books this year. That would be an average of 3-4 books a month. To make sure I will reach my goal, I will start with Little Red Riding Hood.

3. Eat 40 types of vegetables and fruits  a week.

  

4. Learn 40 new English words a month.

 5. Memorize 40 poems this year.  I am done with the poem “Don’t Suck Your Thumb” LOL!

  

6. Make more friends. Now, I am almost sure that I’ll fall short on this . I will be needing  40 good pick up lines to initiate befriending someone. Now, what would I put on my list? I checked on some lists online and they were either already overused or pretensious. I was toying with the idea that if the situation is conducive to strike a conversation, this would be my pick-up line:

“Do you mind giving me a name for a character in the book I am writing?”

That probably would lead to endless conversation.

  

7. Memorize 40 quotations this year and use them when I want my message short and clear.

  

8. Learn 40 new foreign expressions this year other than English and Korean.

  

9. Memorize 40 jokes and use them when necessary. Sibling fights and stopping someone from nagging,oh I have proven countless times how effective this method is . Famous quotations or words to live by works like magic as well.

10. Let each family member draw or paint 40 art pieces this year and host an event to showcase them to friends and family.Maybe devote one wall  or one room for family museum.

11. Save a separate $40 a week , make it roll and let the earnings roll again. Don’t think of it as money. Think of it just like playing a game of Monopoly.

12. Collect 40 different flowers or plants and frame them.

13. Get myself  40 pcs combination of clothes, shoes and bags. Update my wardrobe.More dresses  this year. But  since pajama, tank tops and shorts are my  office attire, I probably will just design 40 outfits and start a new online shop for fashion.

14. Get at least 40 hrs of sleep a week. 49 hours would be perfect.

15. Visit 40 new different places this year.

16. Let each family member  take a picture and make a collection of 40 different interesting photos  and hang them on the walls . Another option would be to host an event to showcase them to friends and family.

17. Exercise at least 40 hours a month.

18. Write at least 40 entries in my journal this year. That would mean starting a journal and sticking to it actually since I have never kept one religiously myself.

19. Help or reach out to 40 people at least.

20. Post at least 40 blogs this year. With 2 blogging groups I am actively in now, this is a very conservative estimate.

21. Writing exercise for at least 40 minutes a day. Updating facebook status and commenting on blogs are not included.

22. Learn 40 new dishes this year with emphasis on eating healthier.

23. Watch 40 new movies this year and play with the idea of ending it differently or changing some dialogues from the scene.

24. Let each family member learn new songs and piano, guitar,violin musical pieces and take a video performance of  each member. Host a family gathering for everybody to enjoy.

25. Start a Mommy handbook’s guide to life  to pass on to my kids when they grow older and make 40 entries at least for a start. It will be a compilation of everything from my philosophy, lessons learned in business and relationships, housekeeping techniques and anything that will help them navigate their lives someday if they struggle with anything.

26. Swim at least 40 hours a month. Seriously considering replying to that swimming buddy who responded to my ads. She said she wants to lose weight so she wants to swim but she also wants me to run which is the last sport I would go to. I just can’t enjoy running even if someone pays me to do it.

27. Learn or try 40 new things this year like fixing my bike, ice-skating, sewing, pole dancing perhaps,LOL! Seriously, tango  or modern dance. Hip-hop probably wouldn’t require me to enroll in a class. I don’t think I’ll be comfortable dancing with a male dance instructor.

28. Suggest  to try 40 crafts or activities for my 80-year old Mom to have variation in her schedule.

29. Make a list of 40 things to be grateful about in my life and post it on my wall.

30. Drop at least 40 memorable statements from my loved ones in my time capsule bottle.Last year I had these two ones from my children:  “ I don’t get tired when I play violin for Mommy!”   “You will always be beautiful to me Mommy!”

31. Plant 40 different kinds of plants , flowers or vegetables . There is some joy in nurturing life in your hands.

32. Try out 40 new different restaurants and on the side observe how many couples don’t look at each other anymore while eating.

33. Learn 40 new ways to make and save money.

34. Surprise 40 people by doing random act of kindness such as sending flowers and home-cooked meals and let the kids get involved. Try to enjoy when they reciprocate and be ready when they continually seek contacts with me. Who started it all anyway?  Now, that is frightening.I think I will just go anonymous.

35. Try 40 paint colors for my toe nails. They don’t necessarily have to be one color at a time. I think I’d rather get 40 different  color streaks  for my hair this year. Not really fond of painting my toe nails.

36. Learn 40 new animals or species with my son and their behaviour. Maybe we could write a fable or something together.

37. Concentrate on descriptive writing this year. Learn 40 ways to describe a person, object or an event.

38. Learn about 40 new historical personalities or icons from different fields and their inspiring lives. Print their photos and discuss them with the kids. Hang on our family room for the lessons to stick.

39. Familiarize with 40 poets and fiction writers and try emulating their styles. Such an ambitious goal but I am getting pretty tired of myself lately.

40. Devote 40 minutes each day to do immerse myself on anything that I would find an inspiration to sink my thoughts into. I refuse to call it meditation because I will not be standing still. Quite the contrary actually. I insist to call it immersion on my subject and feeling every tiny drop of its existence and meaning, if it has any meaning at all. This process I was inspired from watching the movie “Stranger than Fiction” where the British writer would immerse herself into the experience by  going to the hospital to find  dying patients just to understand and feel how it is to be on the verge of dying. It doesn’t have to be that depressing but that’s the method. Now, if  someday, I want to immerse myself on “angels in the snow,”  no matter how long I sit still in one place, snow will never come in this tropical country where I live. But I love my country Philippines and all the sunny beaches around.

I also love and very thankful for being 40. I love being older. It makes me feel more settled and free from the vanity of the youth. Can’t blame me for feeling this way.Got 3 cakes and a bunch of flowers on my 40th bday. That’s record-breaking.Maybe 3 cakes stands for 3 kids why I was born in the first place :D