ALSphere Foundation
How quickly time flies by! It feels like a whole year passed by in the blink of an eye.
I have fond memories of 31st December. During my childhood and teenage, my friends and I had made a pact that we all would do something special every 31st December. Accordingly, we would either spend it at each other’s homes, watching television shows that usually were hosted for the year-end, or at the terrace of the building where we lived and from where we would be treated to a splendid display of fireworks sharp at the stroke of midnight. We would play some songs on the tape-recorder, munch on potato-wafers and sip cold drinks. This was our version of a ‘party’!
The best part for me was making resolutions for the new year and sharing them with my friends while they shared theirs. We would buy new books, or if our parents were feeling generous, new diaries and would jot down our resolutions with much enthusiasm. There was no tinge of doubt that we would not follow up with them. We never did, but that did not deter us from crafting new resolutions every year.
With the passage of time, as happens with the best of friends, we all parted ways although we did manage to stay in touch. 31st of December turned into a low-key affair as we stayed up at our own homes, now riddled with responsibilities, all the while reminiscing about those days when we could spend the year-end with friends. Without my knowledge, the habit of making resolutions slowly slipped away.
I hear many people say that there is no point in preparing the resolutions when we are sure to fail in following them. I have to admit that I have not yet met anyone who proudly declared that they have followed all the resolutions that they made at the beginning of the year. Perhaps it is the prospect of new beginnings that makes us excited about the future and entices us to make some changes or to add new routines to our lifestyle.
Yet, I would say, it is better to prepare resolutions. As long as we are preparing them, we have hope to pursue the life we want for ourselves and to tick off every item from our wish-list. Not preparing any resolution feels like we have given up on ourselves! I can still feel the excitement of buying a new book/diary and the thrill that the knowledge gave that this will contain my plan for a new life. I can sense the hope that the new plans brought to me. I have to admit here that the resolutions lasted about for a week at the most, but while they lasted, it was fun!
I haven’t prepared resolutions since a long time but this year, I intend to prepare new resolutions and to follow up with them as much as I can. I have a few in mind, such as:
- Aiming for physical and mental fitness.
- Progressing more in my journey as a writer.
- Exploring more genres as a reader.
- Striving to develop inner calm and to stay poised amidst all kinds of situations.
I think it becomes difficult to pursue resolutions when we focus on the end result more than the process or the journey. Say, for example, if your resolution is to attain physical fitness, rather than setting a goal in quantity or setting a time-limit, the resolution could be something like, ‘I will find a fitness-activity that I enjoy and I will follow it through.’ Find the means to pursue the resolution, and let the end-result take care of itself.
Buy that new diary. Write down your resolutions, wishes and dreams for the new year, and find enjoyable means to achieve the same. May the New Year be the best that you have ever had!
Deepa Vishal
