23 Birthday Resolutions (2/2)

The list is not yet finished. I understand the first half was pretty long and I know it can be exhausting to some of you, but bear with me for now. I'll try to make my blog entries shorter in the future. Now here are twelve (12) more resolutions I would like to share with you. 

12. Be eco-friendly: This year I've decided to think more about the environment. I know we don't have established recycling mechanisms and we are lagging behind when it comes to acting green. My idea is to change some daily habits, to think about the very future generations when I am consuming energy and to act with more consciousness following "If you cannot make a place better than it is, at least don't make it worse, leave it as it is". I will be turning the lights off when I am outside the room, unplugging devices when they don't need power, turning off the faucet when I am brushing my teeth or washing my hair. -I told you I am going to make it simple-.

13. Take more care of my plants: similarly to the previous resolution, I am now deciding to take more care of my plants. As I am planning a 'green' home, and because it has always been an extreme pleasure for me to buy small plants and watch them grow, I'd like to learn more about the maintenance these need, rather than doing it randomly. I believe I'll also buy some gardening material. (Yes I like to do things properly :D) 

One of my dearest plants, you can see the different shades of green and the new buds. 'Subhan Allah'

14. Use natural beauty recipes: Like all the girls in the universe, I love to pamper myself. I have tried tons of products and keep on exploring new ones. Recently, I discovered an intelligent way to try out new stuff without buying full size products: it is called Bloomingbox and you just need to subscribe and fill in forms about your beauty profile to start receiving miniatures. (This was out of topic, but I am sharing it with you). Now what I am planning to do this year is to use more natural products, I like to call them grandma recipes because the most important is that we trust the 'experience' of the others. When I was writing articles about beauty in the university newspaper I came across tons of these. I will try to find out more, but only share with you tested recipes. Watch out for these !

15. Travel more often: In another life, I might have been a full time traveler. I cannot describe how passionate I am about discovery, adventure and everything new. I love learning stuff about how history shaped different countries and built culture differences. Nothing can compare to the joy I feel when I am visiting a very old monument, looking for the best restaurants to try new food and planning the best itinerary to visit a city. I am hoping I'd be able to exploit my Schengen visa to travel to Europe and visit more countries (Greece, Portugal, and Ireland are at the top of my destinations' wish list). However, because I like to be realistic, I am aware this might not happen. Consequently, I'd be happy to take weekend trips to some cities/ regions of Morocco I've never been to. I am thinking about Akchour, villages in the Middle and High Atlas; I also heard there are magical places near Agadir that are worth visiting. 

16. Save money: I am good at planning but bad at depriving myself from 'stuff' I like. I do spend a lot of money buying things I do not necessarily need, just because I want them. Usually when I want to save money, I need to set an objective that would encourage me to do so. I have not yet decided on what I'd like to save money for, but I am aware it is the kind of practice I should embrace as a responsible and mature person. 

17. Take more pictures: Pictures are for me the easiest way to reconstitute memories, to remember good times and to immortalize feelings. I'd like to remember carrying my camera with me wherever I go. The challenge is to also remember to use it.

18. Offer more: By now you should know how much I love shopping. The one thing I like more than buying things for myself is buying things for my dearest ones. As much as I love buying gifts, and as much as I care about the packaging and the very specific moment when the other person opens the gift and discovers what in it; I just hate having to buy presents under pressure. Now my resolution is to plan my gift shopping ahead of time to enjoy it to the fullest.

19. Say 'thank you' and 'sorry' more often: gratitude is one of the rarest qualities you find in people nowadays. I'd like to escape this category of people and thus would love to say 'thank you' more often. Also, I want to recognize my mistakes, realize when I do something bad to someone, regret it and say 'sorry'. 

20. Avoid useless discussions: people usually like to argue and so do I. Some arguments are not worth debating and some discussions not worth spending time on. I am not claiming that there are topics not to be discussed, I just feel I should spend less energy in these. By the way, I'd like to reduce the amount of gossiping I engage in. I should definitely do some efforts to fight 'ghayba and namima' this year.

21. Have some 'me' time: taking some time for you, thinking about your life, the choices and decisions you have made, reflecting on how you have reacted in different situations and what you could have done differently is very beneficial. I'd like to take more me time, be it to pamper, to rest, do what I like or just relax and think about random 'me' things.

22. Get more sleep: this come at the bottom of the list, because I think this is going to be the hardest for me. Someone I know used to tell me that sleep is a waste of time when you have so much things to take care of, well Yes but sleep is also the ultimate path to a healthy and balanced life. I am definitely going to try to get more sleep. Maybe not now, Ramadan is not the best time to start such a resolution, but after Eid inchaAllah.

23. Keep this blog up-to date

I know you'll find these too long to read. However, you can just leave me a comment about what resolution number you like the most, what you have already tried and hints on how you think I can achieve these. 

I have a little list of blog entries I'd like to write next. I still haven't decided on the frequency of my posts, but your ideas and 'sharing' make me happy, and I believe we are now engaging in an enriching experience.