2011 New Year Resolution?!?

I hope that everyone’s new year is going well so far. I have not been posting for a while…I still need to post about our trip to Washington and Oregon, I know. But before I do that, I wanted to share my new year’s resolution.

I don’t usually have any official new year’s resolution...maybe just in my head—like eat more healthy, exercise more, drink more water, etc.—the usual things. Follow through is not nearly perfect either but I try. This year, however, is different. I have a solid new year’s resolution and I am committed. First, I had a wonderful and peaceful start of the year by going to the 10-day Vipassana meditation course. As my second course, I deepened my understanding and attempted to refine the technique. This time was also special and dear to my heart because MH and I attended together. We finished the course by greeting the new year on January 2. So my first commitment is to meditate daily. So far not too bad. It is definitely not an easy thing to sit for one hour each morning and evening. I will try my best though. If you are interested in learning about Vipassana, visit http://www.dhamma.org/.

Additional to daily meditation, I’ve decided to cut out alcohol and follow vegetarian diet (as much as possible). I know I know…for those of you who know me, I love Korean BBQ, sushi, steak and wine. It’s a pretty tough decision but I think it’s a good commitment in order to be more effective in my meditation along with other good reasons. I’ve always enjoyed vegetarian meals and I’ve been more or less cutting down on my meat intake so it has not been a shock to my system.

To be more educated vegetarian, I started to do some information seeking on the internet. One of the first things I stumbled upon is PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) website. As you can imagine there were lots of information here encouraging people to be vegetarian and vegan. I watched a video on their online Vegetarian Starter Kit that affirmed me to be vegetarian as opposed to “I’ll be vegetarian as much as possible”. I wouldn’t say that I was naïve in believing that food animals were treated ethically but the visuals made an irreversible impact on me. I’ve always been an animal lover and I cannot tolerate animal cruelty. I refuse to be part of the problem, problem not only of animal cruelty but of environmental issues as well. I know I cannot save the world but I want to do the right thing, at least the right thing in my own way. If you love animals like me and care about their livelihood and well-being please check this out. Make sure you watch the video of the animals.

http://features.peta.org/VegetarianStarterKit/

By all means, I am not an activist and I don't intend to preach, and I realize that this will not impact everyone the same way it did for me. However, I do hope that people would be more conscientious about their food—where they come from, how they were treated before ended up on your plate, how all these impact the world you and your loved ones live in—and have respect for animals and be grateful that these animals sacrificed to feed people; and maybe, just maybe consider becoming vegetarian or vegan.

You may be wondering why I’m writing about this instead of just “doing it”… I want to not only share my thoughts with you but I want to pledge my commitment by being open and hope that it will motivate me even more to stick with it! So ya'll don't try to sway me, hahaha. Yes it’s a hefty goal but I hope you are happy and supportive of my commitment.

I wish you happiness and peace in 2011!