<p>I have lived a little over four decades on this planet and I have made new year resolutions for at least three of these decades. I have been religiously looking forward to the last week of December, so I could make a new year resolution, only to break it unceremoniously within the first few weeks of the new year. </p>.<p>I still remember vividly, my very first new year resolution like it was yesterday. I was 13, dimpled and pimpled. A class-mate of mine, acquainted me with the concept of the new year resolution through little bits of notes passed around during math class. I was smitten. And right there, in the midst of a long division math sum, I decided to give up reading comics and do math for the next full year! I dozed off on my first algebraic equation on the first day of the new year and dropped my resolution immediately. </p>.<p>But I decided to continue with the tradition of new year resolutions reverently from then on. One year, while wading through my teens, I decided my new year resolution was to forget a crush and move on with a sense of self-respect. But then again, I spent the new year day cycling around his house, hoping to catch a glimpse.</p>.<p>Another notable mention is the year that I decided to pot at least a hundred plants. I was a young adult and had just taken to gardening. Why hundred, you ask? I was reading <em>One Hundred Years of Solitude</em> back then. Of course, the final tally was around 17 or 18 pots in January that year. Something is better than nothing, right?</p>.<p>During Covid-19, I was awestruck by the awful lot of self-love reels floating on Instagram and my resolution for 2021, while fending off the virus and stocking up on sanitisers was to give myself all the love that I truly deserve. Believe me, I gave it my all. After a few months, my self-love sunk deep like the Titanic. But my heart goes on.</p>.<p>And of course, the star of the show, the resolution with the most comebacks is the very adult resolution of exercising and losing weight. This, by far is the longest running resolution of my life. Every year, the resolution is renewed with new vigour; only to get lost in the humdrum, somewhere in the middle of the year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With age comes a bit of maturity. These last two years, my resolutions have been more other-focused and is themed around compassion and kindness for my fellow-travellers in the journey of life. These resolutions are, surprisingly, easier to fulfil and keep up with. Plus, they come with the add-on feeling of being truly fulfilled. </p>.<p class="bodytext">While the ghosts of my past unmet resolutions still haunt me (or tease me!) at times, I look ahead and with a steadfast heart and courage in my soul, ready for resolution 2025, a secret that only I can make and break.</p>
<p>I have lived a little over four decades on this planet and I have made new year resolutions for at least three of these decades. I have been religiously looking forward to the last week of December, so I could make a new year resolution, only to break it unceremoniously within the first few weeks of the new year. </p>.<p>I still remember vividly, my very first new year resolution like it was yesterday. I was 13, dimpled and pimpled. A class-mate of mine, acquainted me with the concept of the new year resolution through little bits of notes passed around during math class. I was smitten. And right there, in the midst of a long division math sum, I decided to give up reading comics and do math for the next full year! I dozed off on my first algebraic equation on the first day of the new year and dropped my resolution immediately. </p>.<p>But I decided to continue with the tradition of new year resolutions reverently from then on. One year, while wading through my teens, I decided my new year resolution was to forget a crush and move on with a sense of self-respect. But then again, I spent the new year day cycling around his house, hoping to catch a glimpse.</p>.<p>Another notable mention is the year that I decided to pot at least a hundred plants. I was a young adult and had just taken to gardening. Why hundred, you ask? I was reading <em>One Hundred Years of Solitude</em> back then. Of course, the final tally was around 17 or 18 pots in January that year. Something is better than nothing, right?</p>.<p>During Covid-19, I was awestruck by the awful lot of self-love reels floating on Instagram and my resolution for 2021, while fending off the virus and stocking up on sanitisers was to give myself all the love that I truly deserve. Believe me, I gave it my all. After a few months, my self-love sunk deep like the Titanic. But my heart goes on.</p>.<p>And of course, the star of the show, the resolution with the most comebacks is the very adult resolution of exercising and losing weight. This, by far is the longest running resolution of my life. Every year, the resolution is renewed with new vigour; only to get lost in the humdrum, somewhere in the middle of the year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With age comes a bit of maturity. These last two years, my resolutions have been more other-focused and is themed around compassion and kindness for my fellow-travellers in the journey of life. These resolutions are, surprisingly, easier to fulfil and keep up with. Plus, they come with the add-on feeling of being truly fulfilled. </p>.<p class="bodytext">While the ghosts of my past unmet resolutions still haunt me (or tease me!) at times, I look ahead and with a steadfast heart and courage in my soul, ready for resolution 2025, a secret that only I can make and break.</p>