Reflections | Resolutions

Is it too late to talk about New Year resolutions? It probably is, but to me, 2024 feels like it’s just beginning. Whilst most start the new year with fresh motivation and hit the ground running with their resolutions, I have had a quieter start. The first month of the year for me has been mostly indoors, topped up on pain medication and undergoing daily physiotherapy after a long overdue surgery.

That gave me an opportunity to clear the backlog of reading some of the unopened books I had purchased but not found the time to start. Rather than picking one and reading it cover to cover, ?I decided to read snippets of several of them together simply to keep the whole process interesting and efficient. In between I would pick up random parts of some classics I had read in the past. When you re-read a classic, you find more in yourself than in the book itself. It is an amazing experience, which I am sure some of you will relate to.

This time off also gave me an opportunity to reflect on priorities in life, balancing of many a demand we place on ourselves, some often unnecessary. A question emerged, am I creating value for myself, for people around me, and for society at large? These reflections led me to draw up a simple list with a few guiding principles, a compass, to run and navigate the daily affairs of life. None of these are out of this world, or new – but I am writing them down just to act as reminder for myself. My New Year's resolution is to deliberately and consciously pay attention to these whilst going through day-to-day life. Many more could be added, but I have kept the list small to keep it sustainable. Here it goes:

1. Look after your health, both physical and mental. This is the only body you are going to live life through, experience everything that life offers, and use as a tool to create something worthwhile for future generations. In this fast-paced world, with so many demands, this is something we often pay least attention to. Watch what your body and mind consumes. A daily 30-minute exercise should be non-negotiable. Cut the clutter. Prioritise sleep. If something isn’t right your body will give you signals, pay attention and nip the problem in the bud.
2. Feed your soul – Read, listen to or play music, do gardening, painting, sports – whatever is your thing. Something you get so engrossed in that you lose sense of time, that connects you with the nature and your inner self.
3. Write a page a day – most of the knowledge we enjoy and leverage to move this world forward is a compounded outcome of our ancestors learning to write, create languages and leave that knowledge behind for us to build on. With most of the "writing” these days done through a keyboard, or even automated by artificial intelligence tools , writing by hand is slowing disappearing. I think we should not lose this gift. I am resolving to hand-write at least one page a day, even if it is just copying from a book or an article of interest. Writing by hand at a gentle pace and consciously is so very therapeutic too.
4. Be authentic – in playing so many roles in life, interacting with the people in our immediate environment, we often drift into acting in a manner that is not aligned with the core of who we are. To fit in, to make impressions, or to act as others expect us to can lead us into being unauthentic. Remember, authenticity is your best friend, be true to yourself, and stay connected with your core person. This is not to say you stop developing and evolving. You might want to emulate a role model, and that is perfectly fine, but without detaching yourself from who you really are.
5. Live your life, have a laugh and don’t sweat the small stuff. Life is short and fragile. It can come and go like a feather in the wind. Be happy - happiness is not an effect but a cause. Happiness is the source you operate from. Make and spend time with those you value, and who value you. They are few and far between. Don’t forget to have fun and let loose.
6. Last but the but not the least, and the simplest yet ?the hardest to follow is to “stay in the moment”. Everything around us is transient and for a limited time, change is the only constant. The biggest and mightiest have fallen, new powers have emerged. Happiest situations pass, so do the worst of them. Your present situation ?is the outcome of everything that has happened in the world around you leading to “what-is”. Embrace it. You can only control what you can "do" in the current moment, with the resources you have at your disposal and the resourcefulness you can muster. Make sure you choose the action wisely for the result will not be in your hands, it will be a sum total of your actions and many other factors out of your control. Your Karma, the physical action you take (or don't take) in the moment, and more importantly the intent behind the action is the only thing you control. Make sure that the intent is clean and the action grounded in the values and principals you live by. ?For your Karma never fails, what goes around, comes around.

Do you relate with these? Do you have a similar list, would you like to share?

#NewYearResolutions #SelfCare #WorkLifeBalance #Reflections #SelfAwareness