It's that time in our lives again. An 'old' year has passed and a 'new' year beckons. For some it is a day of festivity with friends and family; for others it is a day of gloominess over being alone. For some it is a day of exotic dishes and multi-colored icecreams; for others it is a day of just one square meal. For some it is a day of rejoicement at all the good things of the previous year, for others it is a day of reflections of all that went wrong. For some it is a day of making new promises; for others it is a day of breaking old ones. For some it is a harbringer of shining new hopes; for others it is just another day.
If you fall into the first category, then read on... If you fall into the second category, then watch this first:
Ok... Now that you are in a happy mood, go and have fun... :)
Let's start with promises, or as they are better known on this day, resolutions. If you think back to your earliest memory of a resolution, it will surely bring a smile on your face. Score high in Maths, get a short story published in the school magazine, pull of a legendary prank, obey your parents, don't fight with your brother, organize a school picnic... the list is endless. A resolution is kind of an untold rule you try to follow the whole year, and if you are lucky - your whole life. So, why do we make resolutions ? Is it because someone told us to ? Is it because we want to impress somebody ? Is it because we want to be a better person ? Or is it simply because that's what people do on New Years ? Well... The answer is in bits & parts due to all of these. Aren't we telling ourselves to make the resolution ? Aren't we trying to impress ourselves most of the time ? Don't we want to better ourselves ? And isn't this what people do on New Years ? This might sound quite narcissistic. But, lets face it, all of us enjoy a little of this "self-praise". As Lester Burnham says, "It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself".
I am not a big beilever of making New Year resolutions. Simply because I can't keep them beyond the first week. But lets analyze. People say that you are less likely to achieve something great, if you tell others what you want to achieve. So if your resolution is to score a 100 in Maths, should you tell yourself that ? Doesn't that bring a silo-mindset into the forefront ? And what if you are not ready to make the resolution on New Years day ? Is it ok to make it on, say, the Ides of March ? Or would you simply wait for the next New Year ? I guess I am spiralling into the second category here. Maybe I should have a look at the video again.
Life is moving at quite a fast click. So why should our resolutions wait for a particular day ? You want to learn something new, start today. You want to talk to someone special, pick up the phone today. You want to write a story, start typing today. You want to quit smoking, lose your lighter today. Remember that today is the first day of the rest of your life. Our dreams, desires, whims and fantasies - all keep changing with time. As a good friend of mine puts it - "Thou shalt adapt! is the one true commandment of the modern world". I agree, but there are somethings you would always want to stick with you, atleast in a philosphical sense. Here, I am reminded of a lovely poem I read in school, called If by Rudyard Kipling.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
I guess my only resolution is to try and turn all these "IF YOU CANs" into "I CANs".
