Resolutions For The New Year

2008 was a great year and the way it's shaping up, 2009 will be even better. So I will try my best to live by the resolutions I am about to list. I have had all year to think about these resolutions and this is what I have come up with so far.

1. Be More Outspoken. I haven't been very good at standing up for myself. I'm more likely to dodge conflict than to confront it head on. I believe that if I'm going to be successful in my life I have to be able to stand up for myself and for what I believe and not be afraid to say what's on my mind. I won't be rude or anything so don't fret, just more firm. I also need to learn to express myself better. I've never been the overly emotional type, but I could be clearer in explaining how I feel and when I feel a certain way so that the emotions don't overpower me.

2. Go To Church More. I haven't done so lately, I've been working and going to school, but I really feel the need to go to church and get the Word.

3. Start Dating. I didn't go on many dates in 2008 because I was trying to repair problems I had from previous relationships. Now that I feel enough time has gone by, I feel that it's time for me to get back out there and see what the world has to offer.

4. Culture Myself. I've been attempting to teach myself how to play the piano, cooking, and learning to give therapeutic massages. In 2009 I plan to learn more skills and to read more. I want to try new foods, eat at exotic restaurants, and experience different cultures.

5. Take More Risks. This kind of ties into numbers 1 and 3 as being more outspoken and dating both involve taking risks. I can't always take the safe route. Time for me to experience new things.

6. Travel. For those of you who don't know, I haven't been out of VA much. I'm anxious to travel and see different places and have experiences I never could have in VA.

7. Thinking Positive. I know this has probably gotten me in trouble in the past because I thought TOO positively like I was the best thing since sliced bread and I was knocked back to Earth when i found out I wasn't. Nevertheless, thinking positive did me some good, especially in helping my anxiety and worrying, so I will continue to think positive.

8. Be More Involved. In all aspects of my life and all aspects that affect my life. I mean be more involved with my family, friends, work, school, politics, etc

9. Continue trying to "A" man and not "The" man. I know it sounds like some cheesy line out of a movie, this is just my fancy way of saying that I want to be a better person inside and out. That means always keeping myself groomed and nicely dressed and always keeping an open mind and a warm heart.

We'll revisit these halfway through the year to see how many resolutions I've made and how many I will try to make throughou the rest of the year.

2009 here I come!

Roderic

Do people know what love is anymore?

I believe that the true definition of love has died. Anyone wonder why relationships aren't like they were when your grandparents were young? Does anyone ever wonder why grandma and grandpa stayed together for 50 years and you can barely make a relationship last 50 mins? Oh don't be fooled by the sexual reference, it's not because people are having sex at an earlier age or before marriage.

I feel that we've lost the knowledge of true love and what it represents. Undoubtedly this is a media drive age. We're fascinated by what is in magazines and on t.v. We let televised match makers tell us what we need, we listen to songs about what we need in our love life by people who already have everything that they're singing about (single ladies comes to mind), and we praise those that don't deserve our praise.

I think that because of our infactuation with the physical and material things in the world we've lost touch with the emotional and intellectual beauty of people. We're so caught up on what kind of car someone drives, how big their bank account is, or how good they look in a bathing suit that we fail to realize that who we're lusting over is really an idiot who has no goals except to stay looking physically attractive as long as they can. What about what they do to you emotionally? What other senses do they stimulate? are they only appealing to the eye? I like to look at statues, but eventually I'm going to get tired of looking at it. What can someone bring to the table that's unique?

I think we throw love around too loosely, people using love to advance themselves and get what they want, be it gifts or sex. That's also how love is dying. People who truly love someone are hearing that the person they love, loves them back, when in reality that person is only claiming that they're in love.

Love can't be bought. Love isn't seen with the naked eye, but it's felt in the soul. Love is actually indescribeable. People are going about finding love all wrong, they say they're going to marry a Doctor or a Lawyer or a Swimsuit Model, but will you love them?

Love isn't easy, no relationship ever is, sometimes it will rain and there will be trying times, sometimes you'll have sunny days where everything is as it should, and there are magic moments where you draw strength from one another and push through those rainy days until the sun shines through the clouds and you experience a rainbow of feeling and emotion that you never thought imaginable. That's love.

Roderic

How Can You Tell Me What I Mean?!?

So this is one of my biggest pet peeves. If you know me at all, you know that I care about how I treat and talk to people and I take extra special care not to offend anyone. That's why it burns me to the core whenever someone attempts to tell me what I meant when I said something to them.

And the most disrespectful part of that is having someone tell you that's not what you meant after you try to explain yourself. How can you tell me what I meant when I'm the one who said the thought? Unless you're some kind of mindreader, trust and believe that what I say is what I mean.

I don't attempt to place my own judgment on anyone elses thoughts and I sure don't expect anyone to be able to do it to me.