2) Don’t be quick to judge. I’ve noticed that despite my best efforts I still have a lingering tendency to judge people/actions a bit too quickly for comfort. If I’m going to be a more understanding person, I ought to really work on this, and to be honest, my manner with people in general. I feel like I still cut some people off by reflex whenever I have a thought about what they’re saying, and somewhere in the back of my mind is a little voice that asks me if I still remember how to “actively” listen from mediation certification. I do, but I need to practice it more.

3) Keep up with friends both near and far. I’m ~2,000 miles away from Stanford/the Bay Area, and it’s embarrassing how little I’ve done to keep in touch with all my friends from the Farm. Time to change. To my Bay Area peoples, I sincerely apologize for not doing enough on my part, and chances are, if I have your number, you’ll probably be getting a call from me sometime soonish to catch up. If you don’t, feel free to holler at me! To my Baylor peoples, let’s hang out more, you’re fascinating and I’d like to have conversations more than once a block at the party where one/both of us may or may not be heavily inebriated. Not that being inebriated is a bad thing, but just sayin’.

4) File my own tax return. Sounds silly, but I’ve never actually done this, and it bugs me that despite being smart enough to learn and synthesize knowledge of the human body (which I will defend tooth and nail as the most complicated subject ever, and if you disagree, I will happily refer you to one of the required textbooks for this block–it outweighs the average 10-year-old. Yay pathology…), I have yet to figure out the mumbo-jumbo that is a 1040. Ridiculous. My first experience with government forms came 2 summers ago when I applied to become a U.S. citizen, and given how complicated some of that was, I figure this can’t be too bad, right? Now I just have to wait for the W-2 form from Stanford from 2009 and hopefully I can file and get it done with before finals.

5) Keep up my (almost daily) exercise. I try to be active at least 30 minutes a day, and I’m usually successful in hitting the gym 5+ times a week. It’s surprisingly difficult to stay regular about this sort of thing, but I really enjoy staying fit, and I’ve never regretted making the time for this health habit. I still can’t believe it when I pull out an old pair of jeans with waist size 40 and realize I’m now a 31 (I wear 32 because I have thunder thighs from leg-pressing 1800 lbs–the world record is 2200 lbs). I used to weigh 243 lbs, and after an initial drop to 175 over the course of a year (~28% decrease in body weight), I’m currently 181 lbs, which I attribute to muscle gain. And as it turns out, since lean muscle gain corresponds to greater basal metabolic rate, I can indulge in that piece of fried cheesecake every once in a while without feeling guilty!

6) Get better at piano. My musical career has been somewhat erratic. I took piano lessons for two years from 3rd-4th grades, sang in the Irving Boys’ Choir for three years (3rd-5th grades) until I moved to Arlington/puberty hit my amazing vocal cords, and then after a year of musical deprivation, played French Horn for three years (7th-9th grades). I picked up harmonica during sophomore year of college, and still have my set of 8 that I play occasionally. Upon arriving in Houston for med school, I decided I would need something to keep me sane–and instead of a PS3, I bought a 65-key keyboard. Why on earth I suddenly had the urge to relearn piano after a 12-year hiatus, I will never know, but I tackled the gorgeous “Primavera” by Ludovico Einaudi. I can play it now, so I recently printed out the sheet music for “Comptine d’un autre été: L’après-midi”, from the movie Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain. We’ll see how it goes. I’m always on the lookout for new songs to fiddle with, so if you’ve got any scores you care to pass along, I’d love them!

7) Blog more. I’ve had this resolution in years past without much success/care, but for once, I’m serious about this. I have a myriad of thoughts that I’m afraid I’ll lose if I don’t write them down (let’s be real, my memory is not what it once was, and I’m pretty sure the insane quantity of knowledge med school requires me to learn is quickly kicking out what’s already in my brain), and I’d really like the ability to keep up with my thoughts over time and see how I progress as an individual, scholar, mentor, musician, everything. It’d also be a fun way for people to keep up with me from afar (or, I suppose, my classmates that never actually come to class)! I finally get what Karan and Kimberly told me the summer after my freshman year at Stanford–and to those two, a special thank you for introducing me to the world of blogging.

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I figure 7 is a good lucky number of self-improvements to tackle, so I’ll stop for now. I was inspired to write this upon waking up at 3 in the morning and failing to fall back asleep (partially due to overwhelming hunger), so while I admit this is certainly not a sleeping habit I want to keep, at least it was very productive! Perhaps I’ll read some immunology or study some anatomy diagrams now, as I’m probably not going to feel sleep again before class at 8AM… ^__^;;