Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each day.
Micheal Josephson, founder of Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics
Earlier last week, we celebrated the beginning of a new year! As the clock struck 12 o’clock midnight, the skies lit up with brightly coloured fireworks, and a cacophony of sounds was heard all around us.
We cheered and ushered in the new year with a toast, that the new year may treat us better than the last.
The fact that it is already the year 2020 still feels so surreal to me, how fast time flies! To me, it felt as if 2019 was too short!
Looking back at the past, I cannot help but smile as I remember the speculations people made about the year 2020, such as the usage of flying cars and spaceships becoming the new mode of transportation. It is a shame that has yet to come true yet, but there are indeed other things that we are able to achieve.
Every year, after New Year’s celebration, people come up with their own set of resolutions. Some aim to finally win the lottery while some pray for job promotions.
However, most people tend to have a very half-baked attitude when it comes to making these resolutions a reality. If your New Year’s resolution is to improve your health, you should work hard towards reducing your unhealthy habits.
Unfortunately, most people only work hard at the beginning of the year. By February, all is forgotten, and life is back to the way it was before.
This year, we should strive to work hard towards fulfilling our New Year’s resolutions! If not now, when? Things may seem hard at first, but all we need is all tiny first step to keep us going!
Like others, I too, suffer from the half-baked “disease”. However, this year I have decided that I will try to fulfil as many resolutions as possible!
The first resolution that I have on my list is to read more non-academic books. This resolution may sound odd to some, however, as a lecturer, I read a lot of academic material.
On one hand, although this does help me in my academic writing, I recently discovered that it has somewhat hindered my ability to write creatively.
Thus, in order to improve my creative writing, I have decided to start small, by finishing at least two non-academic books in a month.
The next I have on my list is to practice better self-care. This year, as I approach the big five-o, I realised that I must not neglect myself and my body. When we approach a certain age, we start to feel our joints aching, and our stress levels skyrocket.
At times, we just cannot wait till the holidays so that we can meet our children and have reason to wind down, but does it always have to wait till then? At my age, I have realised that there comes a time where I should pay attention to the cues that my body is telling me.
Being too stressed is never good, especially at my age. Based on my experience, this pent-up stress can, later on, translate into some very troublesome and serious health problems! We should all know the right time to stop and rest, and that goes to everybody, not just people my age.
These days, it is so disheartening seeing so many young people overly stressed over so many things, which at times, leads to cases such as suicide. Thus, it is essential that we realise the importance of slowing down when we have had enough.
We should also spend more time doing the things we love the most, such as getting involved in hobbies or spending time with our families to de-stress and improve our general quality of life.
In the dawn of this New Year, I hope that things will start to look up for us as a nation. I hope and pray that we will be able to move forward politically, economically and socially.
I also hope for more unity and understanding among our multiracial society. May the year 2020 bring us good change, and a more prosperous Sarawak.
It’s still not late to wish you all a Happy New Year.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
