2010: Can We Finally Walk The Talk?

When the clock strikes 0000 hours, marking the time that belongs to both the 31st of December 2009 and the 1st of January 2010, planet Earth and all of its inhabitants will be celebrating a brand new year. A brand new year is, without a doubt, a good thing. Good for recreating hopes and dreams which were abandoned halfway through 2009, good for building resolutions and setting new and perhaps higher targets. In fact, a new year is, simply put, good for a brand new beginning. It is like going back to square one in a Snakes & Ladders game, but on to a new board, where previous falls and losses are left behind, where the snakes and ladders are arranged in a different manner, allowing the player to have new hopes and new moves to advance all the way to square one hundred.

Question: If it was possible for our so-called resolutions and dreams which we created at the beginning of 2009 to dissipate into thin air even before anything is achieved, why couldn't it be the same way too in 2010?

I myself am a victim of this vicious cycle. Year after year, I store in my conscious mind a list of "What I Want to Do & Achieve". Year after year, the list remains unchecked or perhaps, on a brighter side, mostly unchecked. Most of the time, I blame "circumstances" such as time inadequacy, parental disagreement, etc. Sometimes, I blame myself for procrastinating, for being lazy, for not being persevering enough, which really are common factors we all face when attempting to achieve our resolutions. But all this blaming, ultimately, results in self-pity and that's where the fall begins. Self-pity leads to self-indulgence which leads to selfishness. I have learned that anything that is done on the basis of self-importance does not give lasting satisfaction. And when we realise there is no more satisfaction, we give in to luring temptations and finally fall under the coax of "I will do this tomorrow". Needless to say, tomorrow never comes because tomorrow remains everyday, as tomorrow.

This is not saying though, that making resolutions is pointless and unrealistic. In fact, it is not unrealistic at all. The only factor that causes our resolutions to be unrealistic is the way we choose to make them. Many of us make big, major-sized resolutions which excite us at the moment of creation. As days pass, excitement evolves into an overwhelming sense of impossibility. Not only that, if we take the time to analyse the root of our resolutions, we should really question ourselves, "Why do I want to do this?" Most answers would point back to the questioner herself or himself.

Logically thinking, if one is not able to reach square one hundred in one throw of the dice, one should make paces, up the ladder and down the snakes. Similarly, if we are aware that we are not able to achieve the sky high dreams we set for ourselves in one go, wouldn't it be more feasible to make daily resolutions instead, small, minor ones, as we open our eyes to greet the sunshine of everyday? No humans are super, even aeroplanes need to ascend gradually till they reach the intended height. Perhaps if we spare ourselves a little time every morning to think about what we want to achieve, just simple things, such as making sure we say our thank you's and how do you do's, we would actually be able to realise our hope of wanting to live a life of gratitude and respect.

When making these daily resolutions, perhaps it would also be helpful to reflect upon why we make them. Do I want to live a life of gratitude and respect because I want to be happy and to feel good about myself or because I want my happiness to be felt by those I come in contact with? Do I want to participate in a certain charity organisation because I want people to know that I am not selfish and so I would feel better about myself or because I know that by interacting with someone or something else, directly or indirectly, I am making a difference for that someone or something, even if it is just a seemingly insignificant one? I am not sure myself as to what makes a life of serving to be able to bring more contentment than a life of satisfying our own needs. Perhaps when we are able to make the slightest difference to something or someone, there is this invisible thread of connection that binds two together. So the more our interaction, the more the number of connections. And perhaps these connections rejuvenate us, opening our hearts and minds to see the beauty that is contained in our surroundings, in people and in life's daily happenings.

Ultimately, resolutions, daily or monthly or yearly, big or small, should be constantly accompanied by gratitude. Being thankful is teaching me to be humble. Practising gratitude in every little thing that I remember to be thankful for, I am realising beauty I have not had the gratifying eyes to see before this. In fact, for having the words to write this blog post, my gratitude goes out to Mr. Bob Greene (who gave the idea of making daily resolutions in the Rachael Ray show I watched this morning) and Mr. Jason Mraz (who is an uplifter of a life of acknowledgement and gratitude). Being inspired about life philosophy from the television and from an artiste's blog may seem a little ungrounded. The question here is, to what extent would we go to to make 2010 a more fruitful year? And believe me, the possibilities are beyond our imagination.

I am publishing this post as a constant reminder to myself of the boundless possibilities that I would be granted with in 2010 through the resolutions I create. If, by any chance, anyone stumbles upon this post, I am thankful for the person who is reading for he or she is spending time to share with me, my little discovery.

Have an enlightening time creating your 2010!