Happy New Year dear family and friends. The girls and I celebrated New Year's eve at Gary's home. It was a quiet evening watching "Hairspray", eating homemade American comfort food (made by yours truly), and just talking about every subject that comes to mind as we usually do. I am very happy that for once I didn't have to hear gunshots going off to celebrate the arrival of a new year. With the exception of one party we heard while leaving Gary's for home tonight, there weren't any obvious signs there had been a change in the calendar. I didn't hear or see any fireworks. In fact, there was more hoopla surrounding National Day than today. New Year's is celebrated but most likely is much grander in Abu Dhabi or Dubai.
As with the start of another year, I have my resolutions. The scenery has changed but the resolutions remain the same: eat better, exercise more, lose eight to ten pounds, practice patience with M&I, help M&I more with their school work, attend more to their spiritual education as well as my own spiritual development, manage my money better and save more. Same old, same old. However, not only is this a new year but I return to work in a day and will now begin the second half of the school term. (It's funny but in the stores, there are these big displays, "Back to School" with school supplies just like it was in September. The girls and I marvel at this because to us it's not "back to school"; it's just back from Christmas break.)
Besides my academic objectives which are more defined now, I want to keep some of the peaceful and relaxing attitude I've had during this vacation. Usually when I return to work, I take on a fretful mindset. One in which I'm never at peace because I always feel that I'm falling short somewhere: with my students, with my teaching, in my homelife, in my spiritual life. I want to change that. Maybe not on a grand scale because change like that is hard to do, at least for me. But in little ways, day by day. For example, instead of rushing home to begin the evening routine, a visit to one of the city's oases and meandering down its paths would help me unwind from my day in a peaceful setting and that would help set the tone for my evening. I have other ideas but I don't want this to become a mission because then it will feel like something I "should" do which is burdensome. I just want to enjoy my days and not feel this internal pressure I put on myself while I am working. So there is a true new resolution: to feel at peace whether I'm working or on vacation.
And I hope for you, whatever your resolutions or goals, that, this year, you find yourself a bit closer to achieving them than you were last year. Again, Happy New Year!
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