New Year Resolutions

Today, a third of this year is over! How did we get here so fast?? I started this post in the first week of this year and now I'm thinking: Is the topic still relevant in the fourth month of this year? You see, I wanted to write about New Year Resolutions. Posting it now seemed too late. But I decided to continue, nevertheless. I wondered how everyone's New Year Resolutions were holding up? Are they being followed with the same zeal as when they were made or have they fallen by the wayside? Are we still feeling that sense of accomplishing something or have the daily rigours of life made us rethink those resolutions? Why do we make them at all? And why only at New Year's?

I feel that we think a New Year gives us an opportunity to set right things that we feel are going wrong, to start something new, fresh or different. Just as the old year is making way for the new one, we feel enthused to embark on something new ourselves. The New Year heralds a newness of sorts, of old routines and actions fading away and infusing new life into everything. That perhaps gives us courage and motivation to do something new and different from our usual ways, averse as we humans are to change in any form.

But why wait for a New Year? A wise man said, "Every day is a new day" and indeed it is! Every single day is one we have never seen before! So doesn't it qualify to be held as specially as a New Year? Why do we need the crutch of a New Year to do something that is meaningful, important and relevant to us? In fact, every moment that comes, is a new moment, worthy of anything new to be started at that very moment. 

I have never been good with New Year Resolutions, forgetting about them in no time. So I decided to do, change, correct and align whenever the need arose. Since the past three years, however, I've been aiming for that year to be my last with MS. Since the very cause of its occurrence is not known, finding a way to be free of MS is difficult. There are many who have had MS and have managed to reverse the symptoms and lead a normal life with strict control of their diet, regulation of their lifestyle, exercise and a change in mindset with a deep belief that one can really heal. It is no easy task and requires a great amount of perseverance, patience and determination. I am still learning from them. To be completely honest, wanting to be free of MS, while being a burning desire, has not seen the necessary action it demands, on my part. While I have brought about certain changes on the diet front, there is still a lot more to adapt, embrace and imbue within myself and my life. I have a very long way to go. As Sudha Murhy once said, "You can be your worst enemy, you can be your best friend." Taking inspiration from this, I have decided to be my own best friend and love myself more, be kinder to myself, be more appreciative and make myself my first priority. Okay, easier said than done. How many of us really manage to put ourselves ahead of everything else? We always find something more important, something else that needs our undivided attention, don't we?  But putting self before anything else is something that has to be done. I have realised that if I do not prioritise my health, it will be detrimental to me and my family as well. There can be no 'waiting for the right moment'. Waiting for 'the right moment' often results in lost opportunity and regret. I have experienced this first hand and I can say with surety that I have learnt my lesson all too well. If I wait for the New Year to take any action for improving my health, the repercussions will be unimaginable.

Which brings us back to what I started this post with and which I now realise can never be ill-timed. Any time is apt to focus on this important factor. Why wait for a New Year to change something in our lives, especially when it is meaningful to us? Sudha Murhy said that statement quoted above when describing her college days studying engineering. How would her situation have been if she had waited for the New Year to start helping herself with her studies, projects, etc., being the only girl in a class full of boys and thus being treated as an 'outsider?'

I cannot ever overemphasise the importance of being in the present and taking charge of our lives. No matter how small the change, the important thing is to just start, set the ball rolling. That small change can trigger our brains into doing something big. There is no bigger moment than now. There is no saying what will happen 'later'.

I can only say – ditch the New Year Resolution, do what you need to do, stop what you need to stop, change what you need to change – now. The right moment is right now.