22 Great Ways To A New Year

Words: Dr Rajgopal NIDAMBOOR

All sorts of things and weather
Must be taken in together
To make up a year
And a sphere.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Like every old year that goes by, we’ve all ‘rung-in’ yet another New Year — 2022.

And, like every New Year, most of us would, doubtless, ‘elect’ to make great lifestyle, and other, changes. But, how well do we all know that they may ‘tumble down’ by the time we are through the celebrations.

Okay, okay, don’t you cringe. Here are 22 pointers you’d use to keep your promises through the New Year, and beyond. Why 22, you may well ask. Simple. It makes for ‘twenty-twenty’ plus-two vision, for 2022, even if you’d not like one bit of it.

1. The best thing to do is to think of the New Year — differently. Something unlike 2020, or 2021, which was disastrous. It’s quite easy. Because, there are several great, novel ways to doing it. Think of a metaphor: “The grass is greener on the other side of the landfill, not hill.” Or, “I’m going to have a great year, and end up trumps over my fellow players and a distant captain.” Or, “I’m going to be a slot higher in my wife’s esteem than the year that’s gone by,” or vice versa, and so on
2. Take a dekko at an earlier situation in a new way. Look beyond the box. Better still — have no box at all, than being outside it. This would help you to improve your belief, ingenuity, and routine, or whatever you are trying to ‘hone.’ Great idea, isn’t it? Because, the world is shaped on our personal experience and outlook? Changing [y]our attitude can change [y]our world. However, remember — as Mahatma Gandhi observed — that you need to be the change first, to bring the change you want
3. Transform the ‘shade’ of your bedroom, or the paint of your car, bifocals/progressive glasses/contact lens, or whatever — and, see the world in a different new glow [maybe, with a fresh ‘tint’ lamp, in place]
4. Don’t you feel overawed — try something new, even if you fail. It will bring purpose to your life — to try the idea again
5. Take a fresh gaze at your ethics, because it is what that upsets you the most when everything else looks pleasant
6. Use your cell phone sparingly, because it is not cheap; and, also because ‘delivery’ exceeds ‘requirement’
7. Think more foolishly than you did last year, because it got you into your present ‘clutter.’ And, also because it can easily get you out of it a la Laurel and Hardy
8. Propose by all means, if you are not married. If married, avoid the divorce-trap — even if you don’t want to
9. Walk on the right and the wrong alley, simultaneously, because if you are on the correct path, you’ll breathe more and more pollutants in the air
10. Celebrities, and each one of us, have one thing in common. Difficulty. So, change ‘guard’ regularly; the latter without the benefit of the ‘fan-club’ register
11. Be positive. Stick to it, even if you can’t. You know that you have the best possible mind-set
12. You cannot avoid stress, acidity, and levy; however, taxes don’t get better every year
13. Make sure that everyone you know considers your idea. Tell them that the ‘canon’ isn’t entirely yours; you ‘borrowed’ it from the Upanishads
14. Battle for your honour and values. Because, you cannot live with[out] them
15. Don’t go beyond ‘nowhere,’ because it’s the most demanding and exciting trail
16. Shop by all means — find out the freebies that come ‘handy’ with the worst possible bathing soap you don’t use
17. If anger, or hatred, ain’t broke, ‘bond’ it till it goes kaput
18. Tell your ‘competition’ that their ego is as good as yours, not any better
19. Existence is a lengthy tussle. It is full of frustrations and challenges, but you know the best D-I-Y kit money cannot buy. You
20. Be who you are on the outside and from the inside out; not what you never wanted, or wished, to be
21. Give no place to dogma, notwithstanding a personal, or community, bias. Bring home a pet, maybe a dog, instead. Nurture and pamper it to your heart’s content
22. Remember, “Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament,” as George Santayana articulated. It begins to divulge… as you ‘mellow.’

Now, to use a cliché — a must, for anyone, who wishes to have a Great New Year. Smile — and, the world will smile with you… not at you.

Happy New Year!

Dr RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR, PhD, is a wellness physician-writer-editor, independent researcher, critic, columnist, author and publisher. His published work includes hundreds of newspaper, magazine, web articles, essays, meditations, columns, and critiques on a host of subjects, eight books on natural health, two coffee table tomes and an encyclopaedic treatise on Indian philosophy. He is Chief Wellness Officer, Docco360 — a mobile health application/platform connecting patients with Ayurveda, homeopathic and Unani physicians, and nutrition therapists, among others, from the comfort of their home — and, Editor-in-Chief, ThinkWellness360.