To resolve or not to resolve. That is the question. At least the question or the cliché that comes to mind the most is towards the end of December and the beginning of a new calendar year. The range of resolutions, though, is surprisingly universal and tiny. They are the same ones floating globally - I’ll wake up early and go for that run or hit the gym; I’ll help out more at home; I’ll count to 10 before I lose it; I’ll re-start my music lessons; I’ll take out more time for myself and do more of what makes me happy. So on and so forth. A strange kind of clarity and reminder that pokes at us as we inch closer to the year when it is changing its digits. Of course, some of us have larger goals earmarked as new year resolutions - I’ll give up my job and find a new one this year. I’ll tie the knot or in some cases, I shall unknot myself this year! And so on.
Be it kicking off an old habit, achieving a tick on a bucket or to-do list or simply inculcating a new activity or idea in our lives, by the end of the year, we lapse into some kind of an involuntary self-review mode, trying to assess and ascertain in what ways one could get more out of one’s own life. Yes, there are too many external factors that are not in our hands. Global warming, climate change, societal inequities, violence, rising inflation and whatnot! That list is way too long and too heavy to be jotted down. But, despite all these very tall uncertainties and factors beyond our control, there’s a bit that we can do. The bit, that we tell ourselves, we’d like to do. The bit that nags us, staring at us somewhat accusingly, as it lies half done. The bit that by the year end, gets listed as priority and tagged under New Year resolution.
Of course, there’s a whole tribe out there who refuses to subscribe to resolutions, new year or otherwise. They are the lot that would rather take things as they come or as they like to put it. The plan is that there is no plan. It isn’t however that they are a particularly happy-go-lucky lot. Sometimes, they say so just out of sheer experience; of knowing that the best way to deal with life, is to play with the cards one is dealt with, at that given point in time.
There isn’t any one sure-shot formula of course. One could simply enjoy these few weeks of winter for its weather, gaiety and festivity. Or one could also take this time to sit down, to reflect and take stock; to marvel at the moments when life was good and kind and the days that were stormier until the skies were sunnier.
And as we sit at the edge of December, with one foot in the year gone by and a hand that is prying open the doors to the next, one could also hold a silent promise in one’s heart. A promise that we make to ourselves as we stand at the precipice of a beginning. A promise that often carries the nomenclature of a New Year resolution.
Supriya Newar is a Kolkata-based writer, poet, music aficionado and communications consultant. She may be reached at connect@supriyanewar.com, Instagram: @supriyanewar, Facebook: supriya.newar and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/supriya-newar