Happy New Year 2014!

The new year has started and I'm feeling super enthusiastic about this year. I have hopes that know no bounds and want to make sure I continue to achieve the goals I set for myself. As always, there are no resolutions. Sounds super corny and reminds me of Calvin a lot, but that's the reality and I intend to keep it that way this year too. ;)

A few days back a dear friend posted this link on Facebook and reading it got me thinking. It was like a key to the lock I had been trying to remove from my clogged brain since last several years. Sometimes all you need is an idea and I got it. I looked at the list, I stared at it for really long, I pondered on some of the items and said to myself: I'm not going to regret these things. That's because I'm not going to let them happen. When I sat down checking the items off on the list, I felt super happy for the fact that I already do more than 50% of the things on the list. It was the other 50% that made me realize there's so much more to do. And of course, I'm not letting these 37 bullet points dictate my entire things-to-do-like-RIGHT-NOW list, but it made a really good checklist and I've already started to work on a few more from the list since last week.

So here's to a more fulfilling year ahead and to do more of the new things that I don't do enough of.




Wishing you all a very Happy new year 2014, dear friends!

37 Things You’ll Regret When You’re Old
 

1. Not traveling when you had the chance.
2. Not learning another language.
3. Staying in a bad relationship.
4. Forgoing sunscreen.
5. Missing the chance to see your favorite musicians.
6. Being scared to do things.
7. Failing to make physical fitness a priority.
8. Letting yourself be defined by gender roles.
9. Not quitting a terrible job.
10. Not trying harder in school.
11. Not realizing how beautiful you were.
12. Being afraid to say "I love you."
13. Not listening to your parents’ advice.
14. Spending your youth self-absorbed.
15. Caring too much about what other people think.
16. Supporting others’ dreams over your own.
17. Not moving on fast enough.
18. Holding grudges, especially with those you love.
19. Not standing up for yourself.
20. Not volunteering enough.
21. Neglecting your teeth.
22. Missing the chance to ask your grandparents questions before they die.
23. Working too much.
24. Not learning how to cook one awesome meal.
25. Not stopping enough to appreciate the moment.
26. Failing to finish what you start.
27. Never mastering one awesome party trick.
28. Letting yourself be defined by cultural expectations.
29. Refusing to let friendships run their course.
30. Not playing with your kids enough.
31. Never taking a big risk (especially in love).
32. Not taking the time to develop contacts and network.
33. Worrying too much.
34. Getting caught up in needless drama.
35. Not spending enough time with loved ones.
36. Never performing in front of others.
37. Not being grateful sooner.

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/37-things-youll-regret-when-youre-old

Random thoughts

Yet another year is close to completion and yet another year older. Wiser than before? I hope so. ;) Smarter than before? Definitely! It's at this time I feel most thoughts colliding in my head than the entire year added together. May be it's the year-end.

Praful uncle stopped by for dinner the day before my birthday and it was perfect because we had an entire evening filled with philosophical discussions and I got to ponder on so many wonderful thoughts that it made me feel so very eternally grateful for everything and everyone in life.

Some of the thoughts he shared that caught my attention were outrageous and others quite thought-provoking. Here are the thoughts in a random order.

Your experiences in life are your only guru.

"Nobody" is blissful. "Somebody" is miserable.

The explanation that went with this was about being someone vs. being no one. I could be a "daughter", "sister", "friend", "wife", "mother", etc. When I am that somebody, only at that time it's possible for me to feel miserable. If I am "nobody", then I am, or will always be blissful.

If someone makes a mistake, be there for them. 

Nobody can ever make anybody happy.

You can not waste time to make anyone happy. Try to make yourself happy. 

If you are happy, then you will be able to spread that happiness / will be able to pass that happiness onto others.

Love yourself.

One of the topics that came up was where is the soul. To explain, pointing at cell phone Uncle asked, "is the sound in the phone or phone in the sound?" I said the latter. And it turned out to be true. He explained. When we speak, the atmosphere enables the sound to travel, meaning that the sound is already there. Phone ringer is the detecting mechanism. Then he matched the analogy to the soul question. Soul is omnipresent. It's everywhere. The human body is the manifestation of it. That's how the soul gets expressed, if at all that terminology can be used for soul. It was an interesting analogy and thought.

Hiking Fern Canyon Trail

Fern Canyon Trail is located in Russian Gulch State Park in coastal town of Mendocino, CA. I got to hike this trail during the last weekend of December on my visit to Mendocino/Fort Bragg.


Fern Canyon Trail

This is the trail that takes you to the waterfalls in the park. The trail-head is near camp site 30 and initial 1.6 miles are paved trail that you could ride bicycles on so technically wheel chairs and strollers can also go on them. After that, comes the tiny picnic area from where the trail splits into two, both sides leading to the same waterfalls and making a big loop. The left side of the trail is 0.7 miles one way to the waterfalls and is a bit more rigorous than the right side one, which I believe is somewhere around 1.5 miles one way. In total, we did about 2.3 miles of hiking one way.

The best thing about trails with waterfalls on them are the reward you get at the end of the trail for hiking all the distance because the view is totally priceless. This trail was no different.


Fallen fern-covered tree trunks surround the water falls


It seemed like it had rained either the previous night or earlier that morning so the entire park was drenched in shiny water droplets and the mossy trees were so green I didn't want to leave the park.


Moss-covered Trees on the trail

We started around 1 pm and were back to the parking lot around 4. I wish we had time to do more hiking in the same park. There's a really nice bridge right at the entrance of the park that potentially had ocean views, but lack of time didn't allow me to make a stop there to take photos. Gotta save some stuff for next trip! ;)

Hike date: Saturday, December 28th, 2013
Accompanied by: MJ, RP, Nikon D5000