Good Morning, New Year!

Somebody got something seriously wrong. I was under the impression that a year was supposed to last 365 days, each comprising of 24 hours making a grand total of 8760 full and fruitful hours in a single calendar year. Sadly I think there was a minor error at some point between the 31st December 2009 and 1st January 2010 because last year just flew by. Not that I regret anything at all. I'm one of those people that doesn't see the point in regret because there is simply no way forward in it. Yes, I did my fair share if stupid things and things that I just shouldn't have done (that is to say not stupid things), but if anything I've learned from them all and here I am to tell the tale in 2011. So what does this year hold for us? I would be a millionaire if I had the answer to that question although in many ways I am. A definition of millionaire is somebody who's net wealth is more than a million units of currency. And so I ask you: what therefore, is currency? My currency is something that nobody can really put a price on and here is why...

New Year's weekend was a bust. I'm yet to actually realise just why people build it up so much because at the end of the day it's just another night out with just about the same number of strangers and alcohol consumption as any other night of the year. I've yet to talk to someone who has really enthused (and been genuine) about their New Year experience. So my idea was to write-off the weekend as being nothing more than a lazy couple of days in the house, not even contemplating that I'm going to have to head everything up with 2011 instead of 2010. Instead I decided that from today onwards I was going to try and execute something that might resemble a New Year's resolution. Now this is another concept that I'm yet to fully understand as well. The number of people that have said to me that they're are going to give something up (like alcohol) or start exercising more, would make you want to cry at the bells instead of cheer - in fact it made me want to sit on the sofa with a beer. But I decided a long time ago what my resolution was going to be:

Part 1) Get out of bed at a time that doesn't include double figures or lapse into lunchtime;
Part 2) Read more and stop putting reading off in place of crap on the TV;
Part 3) Learn more.

Remember how I was talking about 'my currency' back at the start? Well my currency is knowledge and I can't get enough of it - if anything I'm greedy when it comes to learning. I value it above most things in this world because you can actually use it for something. Whether is is just the general knowledge round on 'Mastermind' or my university exams, I strive to learn more and without learning I become fairly useless. If I could stand the me of a month ago, just coming off the back of my first university semester and first exam, next to the me of now then I think I might faint. If someone was to ask me the simplest question about law then I would have to come back to them because it has all been piled under a heap of dirty clothing and wasted mornings. The good thing (and I don't think many will agree with me on this) that is that I have an exam in a couple of weeks time and nothing kicks me into gear like a little bit of pressure. So what is my resolution in one word? Learn. Call me a sucker but it might just be the best hobby I've got.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year to you all!

Martin