New year, new hope. New year, new me. New year, new dreams. New year, new goals.
We hear this often, and some of us may be guilty of saying that. But after so many years, has anything changed for the better? Or are we still the same?
To many, a new year marks the start of a new chapter, one which they tell themselves that they will change and do something about their lives which they feel are lacking. Be it exercise, saving money, learning new things, being a better person etc, they want to make use of the start of a new year to work towards something. However more often than not, we know from experience and from looking at others that failure is generally the default result.
Yes there are others who definitely achieved certain successes in their lives or throughout the year, but chances are they did not decide to change at the start of the new year. They simply decided to change, regardless of the time of the year. The concept of years and dates is a man-made idea to give us a sense of time, and in many ways are very useful to us. Yet, regardless of how we set the dates, the Earth will still rotate around the sun. It is just that at this particular point, man has decided to give it the date 1 Jan 2022. At that particular point, man has decided to give the date 30 Jun 2022 and so on, for all 365 or 366 days. If we look at it objectively, the dates just simply pointed to the Earth’s point of location with respect to the Sun. It does not represent any new year or new hope. That is something which man has decided to give it ourselves.
The desire to change, and the willingness to put in effort to do so, should not be dependent on which day of the year it is. It should not be the start of next year, or the start of next month, or the start of next week. If you want to change, do it today, do it now. Today is just as important and valuable as 1 Jan. Today is just as meaningful as 1 Jan. The effectiveness of change is not dependent on which day of the year it is unless we are talking about specific, date dependent factors. Change is dependent on the time and effort you are willing to put in.
Everyday brings with it a new potential. But potential will only remain a potential unless one acts on it and turn it into a result. Do not wait for the new year. Think about what you want to change, know what you are willing to sacrifice for it (eg sacrifice some time to exercise, sacrifice some energy to play with your children etc) and then act on it. Today.
