My New Year's Resolutions for 2018!

Hi, everyone! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you all have a wonderful year this year. The first half of 2017 was a bit rough sometimes because of the job hunting, but besides that, I think I enjoyed the year 2017 a lot. This year will be a special one for me because I will be graduating from collage! I will finish all my courses by the end of this month, and the graduation ceremony will take place in March 22nd. Then, I will start working in Tokyo from April. Like every person getting ready for their new lives, I'm both excited and worried. If anyone's curious, I will be working as a English trainer. Why don't I just say English teacher instead? Well, because the company I'll be working for wouldn't like the term English teacher. My students will not be kids, but adults, and I felt that they consider the relationship between the clients (people who come to our studios be better at English) and us (the trainers) to be those who come to the gym to work out and their personal trainers, not students and their teachers. I hope this makes sense to you. lol Sometimes, I'm really bad at explaining things.

Alright. Well, the purpose of this post is not to talk about my work, actually. I just wanted to briefly (Just briefly!) talk about some goals that I have set for this year. New years, new resolutions! Looking back, I think I did a really good job. I got a job, read lots of books, studied Eastern philosophy (I took a Zen class, and learned about Zen and its history!), and thought and talked about confidence and self-esteem. If I just set my resolutions for this year and secretly keep them in my mind, I would probably forget about them and thereby fail to work on them. It's better to write them down so that I can always remind myself of all the resolutions that I have set. So, just as I did last year, I am going to write my New Year's Resolutions down here on my blog.

So here we go! My New Year's Resolutions for 2018!

1. Read a lot of books! I would probably be busier this year, but I'll try to make time to read everyday, even just for 15 minutes. 
2. Exercise regularly! I'll sign up for a gym once I've moved to Tokyo (or its surrounding areas) and settled in. I'll try to work out at least once a week. 
3. Study philosophy of religion (because that's what I am interested in lately). It's kind of connected to Resolution 1 because I would turn to books to study. But I've decided to write this one separately from Resolution 1 to make it stand out more. 
4. Keep a healthy relationship with work. I tend to feel like I need to be productive all the time and feel that I'm a lazy person when I'm not. Resting is also very important. Working hard is good, but I won't let my work undermine my well-being. Work hard and rest hard! 
5. Save some money! This year, I will be a full-time worker and be financially independent. It's always a good thing to train yourself to be better at managing your own finances. Plus, I have a dream that I want to make come true in the near future, and in order to make it really happen, I need money! 

...So that's all for today's post! I just wanted to list my goals. I usually write a lot, but not today! lol What is your goals for 2018? I would love to know! 

New Year's Resolution!

So 2017 has come. I've been a bit ill, but other than that, it's been pretty good.

Alright, so in this post, I'd like to talk about some goals I've made for myself. Well, first of all, I need to find myself a job. I really don't like how the system works here in Japan, but I just have to deal with it. There's a certain "job-hunting season" every year when all students who apply look for their jobs. And you would want to get a job which you'll start from the next April, by your last summer vacation in collage. So, uh, the bottom line is that I need to work hard and get a job.

Secondly, I'll study Eastern philosophy. I am interested in Buddhism, and I don't really know much about Buddhism, but I feel like it's more like philosophy. According to a lecture of a class I used to sneak in and listen to, Buddha stands on a viewpoint that life is tough. Keeping it in mind as a premise, he tried to figure out how to live. "To be spiritually awakened" is one of my life goals. And to make it really happen, although it is definitely not an easy goal, and takes a very long time, I think I need to see what Buddha taught. Another reason why I want to study Buddhism (or Eastern philosophy?) is much simpler. I want to learn about it because I don't know about it. I am a Buddhist, but am I? Religion in Japan is very interesting. We go to temples and shrines but I'd say most of us say, "I don't have any religious belief." We don't really think and talk about religion. Yeah, we go to temples, so we must be Buddhists, and yeah, we also go to shrines, so somehow we must be Shintoists as well... But...??? I don't think this kind of situation is a bad thing necessarily. Japanese are quite flexible about religion. I even think Japan may be able to make a contribution to bring hope to religious conflicts. Oops, that was quite a ramble! Conclusion, I'll read books and study Buddhism and Eastern philosophy.

Third, I want to help people be more confident. I know, being confident is not easy for me either. But I think when you are in trouble dealing with yourself, you should look around and engage with the others. Be nice and kind even more when you're hurt and lost. Because that will save you. There are so many ways to lose confidence. Maybe it's how you look, your weight, your school grade, how much money you get paid, etc... All of these come from comparing you with the others. If you truly establish YOU, you don't have to compare yourself with the others. And by the way, all of those fixed ideas/views, and stereotypes are bullshit. If you keep thinking about them, you'll never fully love yourself. You don't have to have a certain body shape or look to love yourself and to be loved by people. And moreover, you don't have to be loved or liked by every single person you meet in the first place. Because that's never going to happen. Some people will always hate you, and you won't get along with everybody, and that is just fine. That is nobody's fault. I want to have many conversations with people who have this kind of issues, and make them feel better about themselves. I'm not perfect, and yes, that's true, I'm not confident like I want myself to be, but I can still spread love and kindness, and reach out for other people. I want to be the love people need.

Alright, it's been quite long, but this will be the last. I'll read more books than last year. I'll read books and perhaps talk about them in this blog. Yeah, I think that's a good idea.

OK! That's all! It's going to be a busy year, but I'll make it a good one!