The New Year is well on its way. The year gone by is settling down amidst the pages of history. The memories of last year’s spring, the summer holiday, the birthday surprise, the Christmas celebrations and many more are still fresh in the mind. Like it happened only yesterday. It will fade soon, we will once again start mixing up date, time, year, till it all merges into oblivion. We will recollect meetings, occasions, and people but forget the date. People are important in life, the smile and tears, the song and dance, these are worth remembering and sharing.

The New Year is waiting, like a just born child, it is waiting to open its eyes, move its fist in glee, crawl, walk and run. Celebrations, marriages, new job, exam results, news headlines, gripping football matches, best film ever, all will happen once again. Events will start getting etched in our mind, with the feeling, never to be forgotten. Yet, forget we must or else this hard disk of the brain will crash. So we have already started deleting the unnecessary data. The New Year resolution is one to be forgotten the soonest. To make or not to make a resolution is a matter of choice. The favorite flavor is, “not to make a resolution, is the resolution!” keeping in mind that change is the only constant we must try and do the good, quit the bad, stick to the normal constantly. The do’s and dont’s of the world is upgrading and reshaping every day. Most of us begin the year without any unnecessary burden on the mind to live up to. If I want to start something good I will not wait another three hundred and sixty five days. Every tomorrow is my New Year. In each day I see my life as a gift to be cherished. The dull and dark hours are my teachers too, giving me perspective of life, making me more patient and compassionate, more humble and grateful.

The beauty of the unknown, the smell of possibility, the year ahead is like a big canvas. We have the brush in our hands. The colours are all there in our life, it is upon us to fill up this canvas and make it the most beautiful painting. Often in pursuit of the Utopian bliss we forget to hold the happiness of the moment. The grass seems greener on the other side but it is not my patch of grass. This wet, dry, muddy, patch upon which I stand; these little blades of grass which tickle my feet, this is my very own patch of grass. It is upon me to take out the weeds and make my garden grow. It may take a miracle to stop time or turn back the clock to a time when we were happiest. We are always happy in the past, forgetting the moment. It is the moment that we have in our power. The magic wand is in our hands, to live the life of dreams in a simple everyday manner.

Before the euphoria of ‘new’ vanishes and we get immersed in the deadline chase, before another year finishes in a blur we can take charge. We can slow down a little. Take time to enjoy the crisp air of January, be someone’s valentine in February, fill the sky with colors in March, open doors to gusty April-May, get thirsty in the desert of heated June, allow July – August to quench our thirst and soak us wet, witness the fall of September – October, wind up the year in the wintry November – December with all the warmth of our heart. The calendar can look a little different this year. Every calendar should tell a story, of days well lived, of experiences worth preserving, of spectacular sun rises and serene nights. Things we always dream of doing yet procrastinate, let us make them happen this year, each in their own style. The best things in life happen when we are willing to slow down a little, take time out and be ourselves. With that thought I start my year, all ready to step out in the heat and dust of time.