Last year I set myself three big goals. The first one was to have an injury-free year.
That is how it originally started but it slowly evolved into more than just injuries, it became all about healing.
In order to start healing I obviously had to stop getting injured. That meant, among other things, that I had to stop running.
I don't see this as my official retirement from a running career ;) but I definitely had to listen to my body and I can honestly say that this year my body healed in ways I had never imagined.
My second big goal was self-discovery which ended up being closely related to my healing journey.
A permissive yoga practice led me to a kinder relationship with myself. Now me and myself are getting along together better than eva'
The third goal was to continue my yoga trainings. I wanted to go back to Nosara for one specific course but I didn't do it. I am going this year though and I am taking not one but two 100hrs courses.
So, two out of three.
A lot (relatively speaking) went on on the books front. This year I took up my somewhat neglected reading habit - do more of the things you love is what they say, right? - I love to read but this year I really set my mind to finally stop adding books to my wishlist and instead I actually started reading them.
2013's book list was:
(click on some of them to read what I wrote)
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, 1Q84 (I, II and III), Poser, Life Form, The Great Gatsby, The Quiet American, History of God, The fault in our starts, Paper Towns and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
So, 12 books down and only 141 to go.
Books and goals aside if I had to pick one single word to describe 2013 I would say it was liberating.
The biggest milestone was to finish paying off our student loans. We believe in living debt-free or as most debt-free as we can afford. Heinz and I don't like the attachment that comes from owing large amounts of money to the bank so we try to live within our means. Among other things we chose to have a small apartment instead of a big house, a random no-HD TV instead of a top notch flat screen and we do have credit cards but that's just for earning miles and points because we use them as debit cards.
This is how we got to take our two-month trip to South East Asia. Initially we were going to take six months off but it seemed too ambitious so we chose two. Since we currently have our house mortgage as our only debt, what little money we saved was enough to keep our apartment safe.
To have the freedom to take six months off if we wanted to was my liberation point. Even if at the end it was less time I think that having the choice made me realize that Heinz and I are not on our way to making our dreams come true but actually living them.
Our trip ended up being the cherry on top.
We made a quick stop in L.A. before flying for the first time to Asia. I was amazed by -eh- everything in Hong Kong.
We then flew to Vietnam where we watched thousands and thousands of motorcycles flood the streets of Hanoi and felt insignificant next to Ha Long Bay's stunning beauty. I pretty much believe that Hoi An casted a spell on us because for me it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. We finally said goodbye to Vietnam in Saigon.
We took a bus to Cambodia and stayed in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
We made our way to Bangkok and then took a plane and a ferry to get to Koh Samui.
The last part of the trip was Bali. We walked the incense-filled streets and the water-humming rice fields in Ubud, then I tried to talk Heinz into never coming back and stay in the Gilis forever and after my plan failed we finally moved on to Seminyak.
So, yes...2013 was awesome! I'm rooting for 2014 so it will carry on in the same awesomeness vibe. Even though we have a rough outline of what we want to do this year (travel-wise) we are also keeping and open mind and heart for whatever 2014 has in store for the Koberniks.
I'm setting myself a few daily -realistic- goals.
My three daily goals are to write and read everyday and I am committing to a 5 days a week yoga practice. Not that I didn't have my own practice last year but I want to be more determined about it.
I have one overall goal and that is to take more pictures. Even if they don't make it to the blog. I want to capture our little-family-of-two moments, I want to be able to remember what our 2014's mornings looked like, our sunsets and cozy corners.
I'm also picking a word for this year: fearless.
Now, you wont see me skydiving anytime soon. Fearless is not to be confused with daring or reckless or careless. I read this quote and I think it sums up what I mean by choosing fearless as this years word:
"Don't move the way fear makes you move.
Move the way love makes you move.
Move the way joy makes you move"
-Osho
In this 2014 I want to love more, live more, move more and more and more.
2014 I am soooooo ready for you!
