I can’t believe that it’s the end of January! Even though I logically know that it’s the elasticity of time at work, it just feels like yesterday we started 2021 and tomorrow we will tear off the page of the calendar that is January.

To start, here’s today’s positivity quote:

I have been more or less consistent with my resolutions for the year. I figured that if I stayed on the course for one month, it would mean the resolutions have become some sort of a habit and will be easily kept for the rest of the year. As a back story, I used to slack on some of these items (which I already did in previous years), especially during weekends, but this time I have been quite diligent in following through each day, including weekends. I do have hopes for this year. I am also keeping a very strict eye on my blood sugar levels and have an ideal number to reach by the end of the year, but this is something that will take time, so wish me luck there.

I’m really proud of keeping up my target steps for the month every single day of the month (and I will walk today too to finish the month on a high) and so yesterday I thought I should track how much further I have walked this year. The driving distance between Singapore and Mumbai according to Google maps is 6,747 km and though I know I won’t to that distance in a year, I thought I should track where I will be if I do this virtually. So this month, I have walked enough to cross the border into Malaysia from my home and then walk across the state of Johor and reached the state of Malacca! I

Last year, and in January, I was not able to read as much as I wished, though I am still on track for my reading goals for the year. I am looking forward to reading more in February, especially non-fiction since that is something I want to read more this year. Let’s see how this pans out. Yesterday I attended some wonderful Zoom lectures organised by the Singapore National Library Board about reading and my key takeaway from one of the lectures was today because of so much digital distractions, we are not reading deeply and only skimming. This really struck hard because I am currently really struggling with reading. So I am going to really force myself to sit with a physical book each day and read with concentration for at least 20-30 minutes each day. This is such a far cry from a decade or two back when I could sit with a book and binge read for a couple of hours at the very minimum.

If you notice, I haven’t yet spoken about COVID. The world had its one hundred millionth case this week and we are at 102 million cases with the US at 26 million cases, India at 10.7 million cases and Brazil at 9.11 cases. Earlier in the week, we were told that its very possible that the panademic will continue for the next three to four years and masking, safe distancing and good hygiene habits will be a norm rather than something we are expected to do.

So stay safe, stay masked and be careful!