Resolutions for 2009

I'm a few days early, but I couldn't help but think of a few resolutions for 2009.

• Become more fluent in Spanish--at the moment I think that what I need is an extended stay in Spain or another Spanish-speaking country. In the meantime, I can continue stretching my vocabulary by reading literature and news articles. I would also like to find an avenue to speak Spanish on a more regular basis outside a class setting.
• Continue studying Hindi--in the upcoming year, I want to complete the Living Language Hindi course and work through Rupert Snell's Beginning Hindi and MacGregor's Hindi Grammar. By 2010, regardless of whether or not I'm taking university classes in Hindi, I want to be able to read short prose, write simple narratives, express myself more or less correctly in speech and be able to understand the gist of actors' lines in Bollywood films. My Hindi teacher from COD gave me some easy readers/vocabulary builders that her children used when they were growing up, and I hope to be able to read them by the end of 2009.
• Practice yoga at least twice a week--this is isn't very difficult to explain. I want to take yoga classes again (after a hiatus of four years) and have started practicing on my own at least once a week since Thanksgiving. I think it would be neat to practice outside of class at least twice a week to establish an independent practice.
• Spend less time on facebook--so self-explanatory.
• Spend less time on the computer--so self-explanatory.
• Be less self-sacrificing--a trusted friend pointed out to me that I'm a little too self-sacrificing at times. I'm going to give myself and my interests a higher priority in 2009. This includes learning to say "no", giving myself more free time instead of extra work hours, treating myself a bit more...stuff like that.
• Read every single book that I possess and haven't read yet--this is a major resolution for me. I own at least ten books that I bought and yet haven't read due to distractions. I resolve to not buy any more books (excluding those bought with giftcards from the holidays) until I've read what I have.
• Practice gratitude--In my journal, I will write one sentence with every entry stating something that I'm grateful for that happened that day.
• Finish the water bottles that I open--We have a bad habit at my house of buying water in plastic one-use bottles. No matter how much I tell my dad to not buy them, he still does. Worse yet, I don't even finish the entire bottle of water at times. No excuses. Whenever I open a water bottle in 2009 I will drink all the water inside.

Thanks for listening to my reflections, and I hope they've inspired you to improve your habits in 2009.

And since it's 12/24...

Merry Christmas!