The occasion of New Year's has, quite unsurprisingly, become synonymous with the need to make resolutions. And this has had a few repercussions.
What was universally painted as a promise to redeem oneself and don the hat of responsibility is now a dying tradition that is all about throwing in the towel and complaining about a lack of enough drive to push on with one's goals. We have made it de rigueur to shun resolutions and uncool to celebrate the arrival of a new year.
I'd say it's okay to be a votary of the New Year jamboree just as much it is to be unbothered by it. However, its larger significance cannot be ignored.
Every 24 hours of a day that you live to witness mark an important triumph you ought to take pride in. Looking back at the previous year can do wonders to your understanding of how far you've come. It's also a jolting reminder that time doesn't really slam on its brakes and backpedal to your side every time you stop dead in your tracks just because you're unwilling to move on. But a new year should predominantly be about looking forward.
Every year, you have varied expectations of what could be in store for you. They are nearly all the time underpinned by the unwavering desire to grow: into a better version of yourself, into a kinder human being.
I’m looking forward to 2019 for a host of different reasons. In addition to being a better person, I aspire to be more aware and well-informed as well. I yearn to be a productive participant in the affairs of the world.
On a personal level, instead of my birthday, it's always the start of a new year that calls my attention to the fact that life could be caressing you first and punching you a moment later. It gives me a flavour of the salty truth that I need to get everything sorted before the end of another year creeps in on me. As far as I know, I've been rushing too much and worrying excessively.
So as I persevered to skedaddle away from 2018, I increasingly came to notice how we had become so used to running at breakneck speed in this dog-eat-dog world that a lot of us had forgotten to breathe. We were gasping for air when it came to getting simple and mundane activities done. However much you achieve, a life devoid of an interlude is not a life lived at all. It's up to you to make it a sprint or a leisurely stroll. So I hope 2019 helps us take better control of our lives.
Also now, evil and injustice are assumed to be so commonplace that you have time to talk only about the most abominable or supposedly controversial issues. Everything else is trivial and pales in front of these 'larger’ issues. The irony is that we also have harmless affairs getting blown out of proportion for zero reason.
This malaise could be the by-product of an ungodly amount of time spent on social media by a lot of us. We are constantly dissecting something out of nothing instead of spending that time fixing what's actually wrong. This needs to be taken care of. We weren't engineered to be like this. What you become is an upshot of what surrounds you, and subsequently what you choose to surround yourself with. It's never too late to desire change. The beginning of a year helps you create a timeline for yourself to pick up on something new. Let 2019 help you pick up a renewed vigour to be less judgemental and more selfless.
And next year, I really hope to be able to feel a lot more. I want my involvement in the world to be visceral and a lot more personal. You can't afford to stay numb to what goes around you. Staying aware should not even be a choice. We should be conditioned to not make that a choice. And I hope 2019 helps me master that.
So the coming of a new year means a lot of things for me. Although, I steer clear of celebrations and the general hullabaloo surrounding a new year, I always do realise that I've been provided another chance to fare a little better than I did the previous year. I do realise that I'd still get my hopes high and keep wishing for things to change until the next year comes along and allows me to hope for more again. Hence, let every new year be about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, alright?
So Happy New Year to all of you, I guess.