I still haven't done the mandatory run-down of 2006, and the list of resolutions that appear on my blog each year. Perhaps I am still trying to cling onto the glowing memory of the past year, wishing it back; is that bad, tantamount to living in the past? Not quite. 2007, I know, will hold many joys, but it is the first new year which has brought me the biggest sense that I am nearing the end of my youth and have to start prioritising, sorting, looking forward and planning ahead.

When I was young, I told my closest friends that my biggest fear in life was mediocrity. Perhaps that was why I filled my teenage years with any activity I could lay my hands on - I played tennis on the Singapore team at 12, ascended to captainhood of school teams in later years, played percussion in the school band, took up swing dancing, led worship and played guitar in church, started my own band playing gigs at pubs, aided in a start-up business and so on and so forth. Mediocrity was easy to surpass in the early years - assuming such activities did make me special.

Approaching this quarter-life crisis, I feel the inevitable fate of becoming another commercial lawyer (and spending 20 hours a day doing it) loom in on me. Envy is not a trait I invite, but it is a feeling that crops up now and again - I envy my Auntie, a freelance journalist who has seen everything from glaciers in tibet to political riots in Cuba, I envy a friend of mine who has just ended a 3-month legal stint in Tanzania, I envy the serial skydivers who carried on when I quit, and I even envy my own early reward-filled years.

And it is a strange predicament, since I have been told and I know that my own life is one to be envied - living independently in a city I love, having travelled Europe and afar, in a passionate relationship, with a loving family and a pending lucrative job. I can't complain - these are the blessings, in fact, 2006 has either brought me or highlighted to my attention. I have no resolutions because I know my life is sound and positive changes will come naturally.

And to my dearest friend Jackie,indeed you will always remain one of my inspirations. Make 2007 work for you and shine on!!