Make this your finest year, yet!
The time between Christmas and New Year brings in mixed feelings and conflicting emotions.
There is that inherent sense of festive cheer which is balanced by hours of introspection about where we were, what we have lost and gained and what lies in store. The excitement of making new resolutions, kick-starting the New Year on a positive, dynamic, successful note is peppered with pensiveness about the resolutions from the past years that we failed to keep up with and dropped along the way.
The biggest of all human traits has to be hope as we pick up our fallen faces at the thought of failure, failed attempts or fewer accomplishments in the time gone by; paste a radiant smile on the visage reflective of the gung-ho spirit within as we ready our mind and mettle to face the time to come with resolve and promise, energy and enthusiasm.
But the biggest take away from all the years lived until now just has to be Carpe Diem.
If we can seize the day, capture the very moment and make it into something meaningful and beautiful then we are set to live an exemplary life.
Yes, it is this simple and that difficult!
So here are some of the ways we could make 2022 that year when we turned over a new leaf -
Opportunity — Opportunity, nay, opportunities knock on the mind’s door — loud and clear. Let’s meet and greet them head-on.
Belief — Believe in yourself, your ideas and your skills. If you do not believe in yourself then how will others; after all, you know yourself the best.
Listen to the Universe — The Universe, through its elements, reflects your spirit. Sunny, solemnly downcast, stormy, sizzling, barren, breezy, peaceful, passionate, pouring, parched — the Universe and You are mirror images. The former feeds on your innermost fears and positivity, your feelings, emotions and thoughts. Feed it well.
Social Media — Curate your social media networks. It is a storehouse of knowledge, interesting facts, tutorials, fun trivia and an unceasing deluge of information. Reap it.
Ideas — When the idea lights up like a bulb or when ideas flow, you must capture them on a pad or iPad, note it in your diary or save it on your desktop and get to it as soon as you can. If the a-ha moment of the idea is lost then it either flows away or stares you back as a boring piece of balderdash that is not worth your time anymore.
Cultivate your circle — When things go wrong with you, as they will many a time, it is family and then friends that rally around you. Nurture your inner and outer circle well, invest in it and see what a big difference they make to you and your life.
Dog is God — The best antidote to seasonal flus, moody blues, fevers, shivers, disease, moments of mental freeze, depression, feelings of oppression and anything else that you can think of are dogs. Period! Really so! Much more than rest and medication! Not much can stand up to the cheerful demeanour, wagging excitement — always, the unconditional licks of love and adorable hugs of attachment, the desire to be by your side at all times no matter what; it indeed is a formidable bond and friendship that can help you withstand any concern or calamity.
Power of YOU — You have the power of making a difference to people’s lives, sometimes by your pre-meditated actions of kindness and sometimes by the unplanned, sudden acts that bring a smile to a stricken-with-grief face, that lift the heaviness off a sorrow-laden heart, that relax a reverberating-with-worries mind.
Be light — It is possible to lose weight at any age — before 20 after 40, pre-menopause or post. Yes, it is. You just need to keep up with the effort.
Eating right and healthily is not for a season or two or for the period of time in which you wish to lose weight. It is a life-long process and should be part of your perpetual life-style.
I didn’t say it was easy. I said it was possible!
Mind the clock — More than anything else, more than wealth, fame, happiness and prosperity, what is really limited and reducing constantly is TIME. After every passing year, at every decade of your life, the truth is going to hit you even harder. The time to do something about it is NOW.
Pay Back — Just as you dive into the ocean of life and dig out bounties from the depths of the Universe, so should you be putting back into it — to whatever extent and with as much ability as you can. Make no mistake about it — it IS a two-way process.
Read — In whatever profession you may be, you must read — extensively and widely. There is no better education than that.
Practice — Whatever your craft — you must practice it every day. If you are a writer or wish to be one — you must write daily. I am enamoured by Stephen King’s passion — who wrote even on Xmas Day, Independence Day and his Birthday.
Have interests — You must have a hobby — developing and maintaining a garden, taking photographs, travelling, singing, painting art, buying art, cooking, drinking wine whatever does it for you — you must have one or two or more.
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly — Be dogged with your good ideas. People may call it pushiness, I call it perseverance. If you keep at your good ideas for long and strong, there will be a chunk of people who will see those things the way you do.
Be ready to drop the bad idea at the drop of a hat, without any thought or emotion that may ride with it.
As for the ugly, kill it the moment it arrives at your door.
Aging is good — Age and the experience you gain with it are the best, lifelong teachers you could ask for. Be thankful for all of your life’s experiences — good or bad, trying or stimulating — they all leave important lessons behind.
Gratitude — Be grateful for what you have. There are hundreds of others who are not as privileged be it with money, cushy life, family, unconditional love, sound mind, healthy body, and a lot other parameters.
Conversations with God or whatever you think He or She is — Have a daily dialogue with The One Above — in whatever shape and form you see Him or Her. Yes, you heard me right — it is a dialogue. You just need to be tuned enough to receive His or Her signals.
Do not undermine your uniqueness — There maybe thousands of people writing on food, or travel or PR or whatever — then should you be adding your two cents too? Yes, without any doubt; because yours would be a unique take on the subject, shaped by your unique set of experiences.
Sometimes, do Nothing! — It IS possible to spend the whole day doing nothing, whiling away your time in inane, absolutely useless activities. Sometimes, some moments MUST be spent doing nothing.
Inch up — Accomplish your goal or at least a part of it every day. Even if it is just a little bit; because you do eat the mountain bite by bite.
Break it Up — Tackle the most difficult job of the day first and then scale down to the simpler, easier, more fun tasks. It helps in being more efficient and effective and you do accomplish more in the day.
Learn from everybody — Just about anybody can become your teacher for a moment, for the day or for a long period of time. It could be the caretaker, the Gardener, a young child, an old mother-in-law, the peacocks that come to eat in your garden, even the rude neighbor.
Relationships –In today’s world of chaos, confusion, comparisons, and conflict, respect and maintain relationships — of the sincere and genuine kind.
Laugh — With age and experience, we must keep learning to laugh a lot — at ourselves, at situations and generally in life.
Respect All — The young, the old, the rich, the poor and most of all the animals and Nature.
Be Healthy — Health is the most important asset that you can have.
It can help us move mountains or compel us to stay withdrawn in the confines of our bed depending on which side of health we are standing on. Along with the physicality of it all, it is as important to have a beautiful, brilliant and sound mind.
Have a wonderful 2022! Make it your finest one so far!!
