I know many people have keen expectancy at this point. After all, it's the time of the year when kids and grown-ups alike make different resolutions and plans. Some of these will forever remain as wishful thinking, while the realistic and the doable have yet to be actualized.
I have probably heard all sorts of new year intentions, from the pure fantasies to the trivial, from the profound to the mundane. My favorite however are the perennial ones. A colleague has been dreaming (for six years now) to become a showbiz celebrity. Another acquaintance has sworn (for the umpteenth time) to quit smoking.
Two nights ago, during one of our booze @ the bay sessions, a dear friend enumerated his goals for 2010 - trim down, look younger, upgrade his gadgets, make more travels, and buy a car. Seeing that I only smiled at his babbling, he asked me what my resolutions were, to which I replied - "only to become a better person." I was not actually surprised that my pageant patty answer raised eyebrows. In fact, I suddenly got worried that I might have been misinterpreted for being moralizing (specially that he cited material longings). After overcoming a little hesitation, I elaborated on my answer and said that I want to become a better son, a better brother, a better uncle, a better friend, and a better career person. Very Miss India indeed, but I wasn't really trying to be cute or funny by doing a beauty contest parody. It was a sincere answer.
Two years back, I remembered writing in my old blog some similar thoughts as I celebrated my 29th birthday.
"I have probably retired too soon those career aspirations. I no longer benchmark my success with peers. I don't lose sleep when I don't get a promotion while others are ascending the ladder. I will not move mountains to buy that expensive car a friend just purchased. I will not die if I don't get as rich."
It's not that I can't. It's not that I don't care.
I still want to strive, but for the reasons I find right. I strive to make myself better. If in the process, I get lofty titles and material wealth, these things are really just perks.
The ultimate goal is to become a better person. The ultimate reward is genuine happiness.
If some people deem this as fake sentimentalism, it doesn't bother me. If others see me as a coward, I will not make it my problem.
To each, his own.
This is my mine.
Good luck to myself! Good luck to us all!
Happy New Year!
