Happy New Year!

We are human. We want to be good; we want things to be good. We want to be better; we want things to be better. Even if we don’t believe we are seeking perfection, we want to move towards bigger, better realities. Bigger, better realities as we see them in our mind. Our heart is full of possibilities, our head is full of dreams… We want to realize our potential, we want to draw out our potential… all good things, I’m sure. And that’s why we probably make New Year resolutions.

The perfect physique, the perfect diet plan, the perfectly organized home… okay, okay I’ve never gone that far even – the somewhat organized home, the somewhat good exercise plan… you get the drift.

And yet, now I cringe at such resolutions. Is it because, for the past several years, I’ve tried my hand at being disciplined in a bid to be healthier - diets of sorts (even water and liquid fasts), exercise routines, alternate remedies - you name it – boring, funless regimens that I’ve followed like a little robot trying to heal itself.

And each time something has not worked, it has seemed like defeat. A crumbling of the image in my mind of the person I want to be, and the life I want to live.

So has this been my search for perfection? It’s a rude reality for someone who does not even think of herself as a perfectionist. But maybe I am, and maybe I’m not willing to rest till I’m healthier. But is there anything I am sacrificing in this focused, goal-oriented bid to be healthy and seem healthy?

Now  I simply balk at New Year resolutions. These elusive, mirage-like things smell like defeat even before even getting started. And to make resolutions, means to take stock of the past year. And that has all the trapping of a great big existentialist crisis. Just cheery, huh? What better way to start a brand new year, than with the kisses of doom I seem to be blowing right at you? Sigh…

If you’ve just written out your resolutions, tucked them under your mattress, and have every intention of fulfilling them, more power to you! Ignore the words above. I sincerely hope it works out for you.  

Happy New Year everybody! Here’s hoping that the year ahead is happy for all of us. And here’s hoping we figure out what that means for each of us.

Here’s to wiping slates clean and having the hopefulness of heart to fill them with better things. Only the things that matter. Here’s to knowing those things, rather than seeking a global nature of perfection.

Here’s hoping that I can make most, okay scratch that, many days of 2015 count. That I smile more, that I feel at peace more, that I accept things better; that I sacrifice fewer days to worry or restlessness, or disgruntledness, or pressuredness,  (and ahem… that I make up fewer words. Sigh…)

That I be able to pick myself up after a defeat, dust off the hurt with compassion and plod on, awake and aware to the joys around me, able and willing to throw some light on them, and see them better.

Happy 2015 everyone! It’s going to be a great one!