All I Want for 2012 is...

(To be sung to the tune of "All I Want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey - no, just joking!)

In order to inspire myself to actually get cracking on writing a 2012 preview post I decided to invite numerous friends to contribute their thoughts on 2012 to the blog. You will thus see featured on these here pages over January, and possibly beyond, what my nearest and dearest are hoping 2012 brings them. I am sure I will have to make them do a follow up in December to save y'all from wondering! So here are my two cents...

After a particularly shite 2011, and a series of not so pleasant previous years, I have pretty high hopes for 2012. Despite not being a major believer in astrology, I have been encouraged in my high hopes by what is coming out of my Jonathan Cainer horoscopes in late December/early January . I found the following which summed up perfectly how I plan to approach 2012:

"Draw a line. Make a stand. Put your foot down. Lift your hand up. Hold out your outstretched palm. It’s time to stop something. Enough is enough. Things don’t have to carry on in the way they did through too much of 2011. You can’t call all the shots in 2012 - nor would you really want to. There are, though, some laws you can lay down, some boundaries you can set and some agendas you can seize control of. The more decisively you act, the more you will influence the outcome of other processes too."

Sagittarius, 28 December 2011 www.cainer.com

So what does this mean in practice for me? What do I want out of 2012? 

1. Cull the dead weight - Sounds horrible I know but I am sick to death of having people in my life who either don't make the effort or who bring drama after drama. I am 32 years old now, no longer a teen, no longer a bright eyed early 20 something and no longer a wise old 'care for anyone' late 20'ser. It is not my job to fix your problems. This, of course, doesn't mean I won't be there for my true friends when they have stuff going on but I am no longer going to let other people's issues be the tie that binds me to them.  And so, following on from this...

2. No more fucked up men - Read this and this and realise the common denominator is not they are both fucked up but that I stuck around to let them fuck me over. Enough said. 

3. Swear less. See point 2 for reason why.

4. Live a healthier life - I need to lose weight - I weigh 10 kilograms more than I should (for my non metric readers just google it hey?). I don't eat well and I don't exercise anywhere near enough. Plus I drink like a (saltwater) fish  (and not good things like water). So I am going to focus on a few things to rectify this - walk to/from work at least twice a week, eat more home cooked healthy meals and drink only every second week. I had thought about not drinking for 6 months but where I live, this would just be a major downer. I figure every 2nd week off for a year equates to 6 months over the long haul anyway! I will also continue on with my quest towards living relatively chemical free.

5. Learn something 'new' - I am very unhappy in my job. I have tried to get new jobs and will keep trying I guess however it's not going to be a quick fix. Therefore I need to find a 'positive' about my current job and that is simply the money and the fact that I don't care enough about it to let it bother me outside 9-5. This means ALL of my free time is indeed work free and I can therefore focus on doing things in that time that make me happy. One of these things will be to gain the intellectual stimulation I am not getting in my job by learning something new outside of work. At this point this may be a formal teaching qualification or it may be more French lessons.

6. Take control of my finances - I am sick of being poor at the end of each pay period. I have set up a plan for paying off debts, building an emergency kitty and saving for stuff I just want. Now I just need to stick to it.

7. Take more risks - I thrive on 'new' things and spontaneity but, after 32 years of maternal influence, I am not too used to taking major risks. This creates a vicious cycle of feeling inspired followed by feeling unfulfilled. In 2012 I plan to take more risks and to make the effort to follow through on at least 3 of my mad schemes (I come up with about 20 a year).

8. Meet more people - I am new to town and have been pretty good thus far about making the effort to get out and meet new people. In 2012 I will continue to do this and would like to see 5 new 'regulars' added to my social circle. But not the type from point 1. 

9. Travel - the bug is biting hard but this might affect point 6 too much which, in the short term, is priority so I will have to be content with short local trips. Not so bad in a new place with plenty to explore! I might set up a monthly travel themed dinner where friends and I have exotic cuisine so I can fool myself I am travelling. Or sit in a foreign film and refuse to read the subtitles. Or just go to the food court at work really, not too many English speakers there! :)

10. Shenanigans - 2012 will be fun, fun, fun and I am open for anything. I hope some of you will join me for shenanigans. Starting with regular attendance of 90s trivia, which I plan to 'own' in 2012.

I think that is it for now, I may add more if I think of them but given the ridiculous life draining heat that Melbourne is suffering under at the moment my brain finds thinking very very hard.