A case for New Year resolutions

Year after year making New Year resolutions and not keeping them is a common and universal phenomenon.  We draw a list of new habits we want to develop, new skills that we would like to acquire and charter a refined course to deal with life’s challenges with better wisdom, all of which we hope will take us to greener pastures and happier days in our lives. 

Simultaneously, we also resolve to shed debilitating habits, turn away from falsehood and close doors to pessimism and bitterness.

Indeed, our intentions at making some noteworthy New Year resolutions are always sincere and well meaning. Yet, no sooner than we make them, we give up on them all too easily. The stubbornness of old habits, our deep-seated practices and our hopelessly feeble minds come in the way of our best intentions to make good the days ahead on the birth of a New Year.

Hardly a few weeks into the New Year it is most likely that we forget all about our New Year resolutions.

After a few such attempts at making New Year resolutions we, in fact, give up on the idea of making New Year resolutions, dumping the notion as futile and a gross waste of our precious time.

  As the case for making New Year resolutions dies a sad death, the dawn of the New Year holds no new hopes for us.

On deeper reflection however, a case for making New Year resolutions has always been supported by its proponents. Firstly, the exercise of making New Year resolutions forces us to take a good and honest look at ourselves. Though New Year resolutions are for most part unrealistic and are perhaps even wishful thinking, making them helps us to examine ourselves, our prejudices and our motives. Such introspection gives us a better understanding of our shortcomings. The change that we need to make is then an easier task than we might reckon.

So, let us begin the New Year by making some fresh resolutions. They could well act as signposts to help us navigate through the year with better focus and determination to make the most of the brand new set of 365 days gifted to us in the New Year.