One Little Step Into The New Year

Silver Talkies Club Member, Sarala Upadhya writes about New Year wish, resolutions and more. 

“Oh! What is a ‘Happy New Years wish? After all, it is only a formality”, I exclaimed to the elderly gentleman sitting next to me in our small gathering on one new year eve. I was on the crest of the fifth decade of my life and had fulfilled the general responsibilities of family. He was riding the eighth decade of his life, celebrating his life with his family and friends. “But why, it means ‘hope’! Everyone must hope for a better tomorrow, and a better new year!” he said, looking surprised at my obvious lack of enthusiasm. 

After many years of that seemingly inconsequential conversation, I recall that incident with gratitude, almost every time I hear that common greeting, “Happy New Year!”. I am filled with a changed attitude, having gone through a series of ups and downs in my own life in recent times.

I also feel that it must be possible to make it better with a little bit of working out on our daily habits. You see, as age catches up, there is a tendency to leave things as they are, a kind of take it easy attitude and that sloppiness may have begun to be accepted as the norm. Not to mention the havoc of the procrastination bugaboo, where you are waiting to press the pause button at everything you would want to do.

So as we age, how can we maintain the same health, same enthusiasm, if not better it in some way? How can we make the most of the time available to us, on pursuits that matter the most? How can we refocus on the final purpose of life? Its like embarking on a new journey, where we need to see what really worked for us and take it further. and discard what did not work. And it requires honesty.

Ready to be brutally honest and introspect a bit?

Let us look back on 2021 and answer all these questions about this year. You may elaborate as much as you want or just be brief with one-word answers. Take your time to answer them. No hurry, no compulsion to answer them all today itself. 

1. How do you feel about the year 2021? 
2. Where did you spend most of your energy/time? (with family/relationships, career/business, hobbies, spiritual pursuits) 
3. What was the wisest decision you made? 
4. What was the biggest risk you took? Any lessons learnt from there?
5. What was the most surprising thing you discovered about yourself? Does it make you feel proud of yourself? (eg. you learnt singing)
6. What was your contribution to others’ lives? ( eg. Prayed for someone’s health or gave free tuitions.)
7. What did you accomplish (or finish) doing? (E.g. Writing, learning a new recipe or a new skill.)
8. Was someone hurt by your harshness, even if inadvertent? Can you talk about it?
9. Who was your great person of the year?
10. What new thing did you discover about yourself in 2021

Now, let us go forward to 2022.

1. What should be the theme for the year 2022? 
2. Where do I want to spend most of my time and energy this year?
3. The three things magic: 
4. Three things I want to let go/give away, this year
5. Three things I want to learn to do
6. Three things I want to give to my family/friends
7. Three things I want to do daily in the morning
8. Three places I want to go for holidays
9. Three people I would like to meet this year
10. Three things I want to buy for myself

Sounds interesting?

You may add many more questions to the list and pass them around to your friends. Or play as a party game. This transition from 2021 to 2022 is the time to let go of what does not help me grow into a better version of myself. It is time to think about “what I truly believe in?” 

Wishing you all a very happy transitioning time into the New Year! May the joy of rediscovering yourself spill over the whole of 2022 and beyond, bringing in hope for a new world!