Let’s face it, when an old year is re­placed by a new one, our immediate re­action is to list down our new year’s res­olutions. The feel good endorphins starts to kick in and we are all gung-ho to start the year right. We promise ourselves that we are not going to replicate what went wrong last year, instead we will focus on changing our lives for the better. Like our “kababayans” in the Philip­pines, here in Canada, we also look for­ward to listing our new plans and hope­fully, it will have almost all check marks by the end of the year.

Time to hit the gym - because of the cold weather here in Canada, people tend to hibernate. Meaning we seek warmth, ergo we eat to keep warm. It’s a phenomenon that’s just not cen­tered on the locals but affects all filipinos who choose to migrate or to work here. Let’s face it, there are more obese people in the western hemisphere, it is because of the weather. Here, we don’t sweat as much, hence we don’t burn what we in­gest. The is the crux of an immigrants life, the circumference of our waistline goes up even before the welcome mat is brush off its first dust.

More time with family - the constant work to home dilemna. In the Philippines, you blame the traffic for cutting the time you spend with your family, whereas here, it’s the pressure of working and more work. An abled bodied person can do double or triple work here and filipinos do take the opportunity to earn more money this way. Although personally, I find that going the route of working 18hours a day just hasten your health problems to sur­face at an earlier age.

 

Take a vacation - let’s face it too much work makes Jane a dull girl. So for the sake of your sanity, it is imperative to take a vacation. The beauty of living in Canada, is that your canadian passport is well respected all over the World. One can travel with nary a worry that immigra­tion officials will scrutinize your passport and mistake you for a terrorist. Be that as it may, it is also important if travel is in your list, to avoid those countries that are having problems with their local Dictator ( Syria, Libya, Iran, etc.)

Time to unplugged - Canadians are way too hard-wired. Techno gad­gets are ruling our lives. There’s your 4G phone, your tablet, your Ipod all geared to make our lives easier but also make us prisoner of the future. Like all devel­oped countries, we are guilty of sharing too much information in the web. Which in turn makes us prisoners of our own wanton desires with all things new and trendy. Even our homes are bombarded with all new appliances that makes our day simpler but also makes us compla­cent to work more and more so we can buy the latest gadgets. It’s like a never ending cycle of commercial greed.

Learn a new language - Canada is a multicultural country. It’s a melting pot of different cultures and a sea of languag­es. Even at work, because of its diverse staff, one can pick up a foreign word or two a day and by the end of the month, you can string it to form sentences. Life is about challenges and learning a new language is great way to communicate with other nationalities. Plus you are keeping your gray matter healthy with all the mental stimulant it is getting.

Be a tourist in your City- Canadians are too dependent with their vehicle. Just going to the next street it is common for many to bring their car, when it would have been more convenient to just walk. Each community here are complete with parks, schools, residential and commer­cial areas, hence walking should be the norm not the rarity.

Laugh more - let’s face it our lives centers in us earning a living and the more we concentrate on this huge part of our life, we tend to loose the spontane­ity of being. The joy of laughter and the accompanying highs it gives our psyche. So for this new year, why not bring back your zest, laugh out loud. Be effervescent with your feelings, embrace your inner childhood. Let yourself be a child again.

8 Rest time is ME time - Schedule a time for yourself. It’s hard to do, when we are bombarded with our silly daily prob­lems. I think this is the hardest thing spe­cially for Women, who always give priority to everyone else than themselves. Try to be selfish a little bit.

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