Make a drop- add list



 The Nation

Everyone is so busy getting ready for 2014, or the future, that they have forgotten the year that just flew by us all. Before you make your list of New Year resolutions or buy a planner for the New Year, it is also important to look at 2013 or the ‘Old Year.’

What did 2013 mean to you?


Since we are all making lists anyway, here’s one more you can and should make. Divide the paper and label one column as good and the other as bad. However, this is not where you list down all the good and bad things you did this year. Instead, write down every good, or happy memory, and then the unhappy memories.


Maybe you found a new job this year. Met some amazing people. Read quite a number of good books. Spent quality time with your family. Managed to work but also have fun too. All the events you attended; concerts, meet ups, parties. Add all the memories to the list. It would be easier to go month by month. What happened in January, February and March and so on.

However, we must not forget the downs in life too. The sad memories are what make us appreciate life more and they too must be listed next to the happy memories. The death of a loved one, how friends became strangers, disappointments and all that made you want to escape life. Jot them all down, and like before, it would be easier if you go month by month.


Finally, you would have a list that would tell you how good or bad the year was. If the happy memories outweigh the sad memories, you have a reason to celebrate. You can start the next year with excitement and hope. You can be happy about everything you achieved and learnt during the year.

However, if the cards life dealt you weren’t that good, there’s still a way to learn from the year without losing hope. Think about your struggles, every little thing that went wrong. For one, you have a reason to be proud because you survived all that. While other people would have given up, you kept going forward. You kept hoping and dreaming. When others sympathize, don’t silently accept their pity. Look in their eyes and say, “I will survive this.”


You can also use the sad memories to make the coming year better. You will be wiser and since you know the reasons behind the sad memories and struggles, you can work towards not making the same mistakes again. This side of the list will make you realize who your real friends are and what your strengths are.

The list will in the end prove that 2013 wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Or that it wasn’t as useless or boring as it seemed. Every year holds something special for us. Every year is one of change, challenges and ups and downs. Without forgetting who you are, either because you feel you are an overachiever or worse, an underachiever, look back at the year and learn from it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Availability, dating, love, etc.

There’s a line in Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends where, towards the very end of the book, one character says to another: “You know, I still have that impulse to be available to you.” This line struck me when I first read it, because it seemed to describe simply what love is: an impulse, a desire to always be available for a person. Now, when I first read the book, I hadn’t really dated, but later, when it happened, I saw how this simple need to always be available to someone wasn’t love. Not necessarily. Not always. It was sometimes a sure-fire way of hating yourself and perhaps even hurting others. I don’t like dating; I’ve vowed to never date. And the reason is this sense of availability, this sense of giving it my all. I haven’t particularly liked any of the, let’s see, two people I can say I dated, even though it’s a stretch, really. But in both instances, there was no real attraction to the person. They were available and bored. I was available and bored. Quite roma
Read more

Alone time

Image
Nation Free editorial Alone time is a few minutes or even hours all for yourself. It can be spent at home, at a bookstore or library or even in an unknown city. There are no rules or regulations or rituals regarding alone time. Sometimes you just feel you need to be alone and you find a place you feel the most isolated from others. A need for some alone time arises in most of us. It starts like a mild breeze on a hot day and can end like a tidal wave that hits you with great force. This need, when not addressed, could turn into anxiety or depression. Pic by Sakuna Gamage However, many assume needing alone time is a sign of mental weakness; that it is only the troubled who need time away from other people, or in most cases, those familiar faces. This is far from the truth. We can’t continue to spend night and day with the same people and at some point or the other, we need to get out. If you feel like a trapped animal in your own home or school or workplace, plan a vacation wh
Read more

Learning to Let Go

Kumara is only a name in my memories. I think he was dark, and not that tall. I think he wore shorts, but I can’t be sure. What I do remember about him is related to bikes. Since my brother was the leader of the pack, even though the pack had three girls and only one boy, we were mostly tomboys. We never had Barbies and tea sets to play with. Among our various treasures were our bikes. Since the pack of cousins was nearly all the same age, we went through the same phases together. The most excited phase for me was the bike phase. Each of us had a cycle and we loved racing each other around the heart shaped lawn in my uncle’s garden. We never spent too much time with the training wheels, and had our knees scraped too many times. I still remember the time I fell off, my bike landing on me. The sun was setting, and my body was covered in sweat. I knew my knee was bleeding and dreaded the moment the adults would clean the wound. When my uncle and aunt rushed to me, I told
Read more