Since the last blog post, yet more has kept us busy in life. After the car accident in August, yet another crazy driver hit the new car this time on the I-5 bridge on December 3rd. Yeah, it has been almost a month already and my blogging habit took a holiday too. I have been derelict in blogging so one of my goals in 2016 is to be better at that. So the car is totaled and we await the paperwork to be completed before we can get in to buy another new car, perhaps next week in the new year. Either way, I want to put 2015 behind me for sure! Cars, illnesses,etc. Ugh
This year of 2015 saw me tackle running as usual, some shakuhachi practice as well as a new love in my life. So much has happened and I shall embrace these memories, good and bad, the same way. I live in the present and want to savour, enjoy every second of life that I have. So, in the coming year of 2016, I have a few new pursuits, well, older ones that I'm going to try again. These didn't work as well as I had planned before but like each year, I limit myself to four things I want to accomplish in this new year:
1-Shakuhachi ( this is a continual process and joy that will be on my lists for a long time, so nothing new here except I shall be working on learning a single piece...Tamuke.
2- German. Yes, I will again tackle this delightful language. I have quite a long history with it and when on my A game, can do well with in in reading,writing and speaking. Now, what I NEED are practice partners! So, if you are reading this that is fluent or not and wants to practice, or knows someone who wants to chat...send them my way! I need to do this and get immersed in it again so I can become fluent!!
3- Running. Another one that has not changed. I have no hit age 49 and need to keep up with my running pace and distances. This last year saw my mileage drop a lot and I want badly to get back to 2014 numbers and run half marathons again, maybe even getting that PR of under 1:30. Going to be quite a challenge for sure and so this year is one that hopefully I can turn around, In 2015 I only ran one half marathon, concentrating on 5 and 10K races. My speed is still decent at between 7:40 and 8:20 a mile depending on distance. I should be happy with that but...
4- Buddhist philosophy and learning. This also has not changed and continues to be a major force in my spirituality. As I journey down the path of mindfulness, compassion, love, kindness and the noble truths of life, I change for the better! This life I lead now is the best ever and I can honestly say I have never been happier. So why change something that makes me exceedingly happy? Nope. I won't.
Well, there you have it. The new goals for the year 2016 and beyond perhaps. Not a real change from last year except for the German but these four parts of my life deserve more attention. Now...
to just do it!!! The usual New Year's Resolutions that we all have can be quite fluid. Here is hoping that these indeed stay on course!
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