As I sit here writing this, the night is ending for hundreds of ghouls and goblins who spent the night happily trick or treatings while just beginning for the many college youth I share this campus with. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday; a day where you can dress up and be anything you want to be. What is supposed to be a night to celebrate the dead and is sometimes associated with "evil", is a time when I see more faces smiling and children laughing then any other time in fall. Soon the weather will cool down, which is pleasant for us blessed to call ourselves Southern California residents, but a dreadful time for those back East. I love Halloween...I mean it also celebrates my birthday right?! Ever since I can remember, Halloween has been a pregame to my birthday.. and I love it! The child in me rejoices to celebrate MY day. While so many dread it as a sign of getting older, I say..its a great day to celebrate! Celebate another year I was so blessed to live and be a part of this wonderful world, another year to thank my body for working so diligently and keeping me healthy and happy, another year to spend with the people I love and cherish who complete me. I think my birthday is a wonderful day, despite the fact Im starting to notice more and more gray hairs and the wrinkles on my forehead dont disappear like they once used to. Getting older is a blessing, just ask anybody dying of leukemia, etc. Wait, let me separate that word...any body. Exactly, a BODY. I am so thankful to my body for all the stress and anxiety my mind puts it through, my body always stays strong. I constantly amaze myself with my strength to overcome obstacles and achieve my goals. I pay attention to my breathing, listening closely to the signs my body gives me to tell me if things might be a little of whack today. I nurture my health with the foods I eat. I exercise mentally and physically, giving my body the space it needs to catch up to my goals. My body is my best friend!
So..on this day as I begin my birthday (i mean it IS my birthday already in some parts of the country) I want to start my blog off to a brand new start. Instead of focusing on the things that bother me or what I want to change, I am going to focus on my goals. Almost like a weekly update. I am going to remind myself how blessed I am instead of focusing on my faults. I am going to stop my mind from constantly using the word "cant" and "no". Im going to work on banishing the dreaded F word out of my mind...Fear. Im going to make a change. So I am starting off my first blog of my 26th year on this earth with the goals I am striving for this week.

The week of November 1, 2008 I would like...

1. To try to incorporate more of the Greek I am learning into everyday use
2. To be able to do crow stance in my yoga class (see below), even if for only a few seconds
3. To get rid of the fear I have when attemping a headstand
4. To work on my backbend in yoga while keeping my feet only a foot apart..its difficult!
5. To run 1.5 miles without stopping (okay this might be easy for some, but im just learning)
6. To not be so negative about my graduate student experience and while were on that topic, to realize that it takes BABY steps to solve a goal

Happy Halloween and well, Happy Birthday to me!

Crow Stance, I will conquer you!