New Year Resolutions
By Vimal Kapoor
The arrival of the New Year has something magical about it. It is like starting all over again. The first few days of 2025 have whizzed by, and I am already striving hard to keep the promises I made to myself. Just picture this, it’s January 1st and your wardrobe still reeks of heady perfume after champagne-fuelled festivities. You are brimming with optimism, clutching a list of resolutions longer than Santa’s beard, and then fast forward to a few days later.
Yesterday, I consumed copious amounts of food at the first dinner of the New Year hosted by a friend. Gorging on yummy cakes, chholey bhature, delectable ‘gajar ka halwa’, and irresistible lip-smacking north Indian cuisine, not to forget popping open a couple of beer cans!
Ah, the annual tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. As the clock strikes midnight, we embark on a journey to transform into the best version of ourselves. The promises we make to ourselves that are destined to be broken faster than a politician’s campaign pledge. To be honest, New Year’s resolutions are like those singing, dancing stars on a TV show – they make a grand entrance, generate some buzz, and then quietly fade into oblivion. So, this year, embrace the chaos, laugh at the absurdity, and remember, it’s perfectly okay to be a work in progress.
At the start of this year, I committed myself to long brisk walks, losing any weight gained, eating sensibly, keeping my finances in order and leading a healthier, fitter life. But, as most of us know, the freshness of resolutions wears off after some time as we slowly get indifferent and nonchalant. It’s ironic that just one day of missing the goal then leads to missing the subsequent days until we feel overwhelmed, and our aim gets blurred.
Most articles about New Year’s resolutions talk about setting practical goals and getting started. Just as important as setting realistic and important goals is having a plan for how to keep going despite the predictable setbacks you will bump into.
What if we reframed the idea of diet and exercise with a word that inspired us? An inspiring word that came to my mind is ‘movement’. What if I pledged that I will have more movement in my life, in my body this year. Moving around vigorously for fifteen to thirty minutes should not be a big deal. Due to lack of movement, we remain stuck, and energy does not flow freely; we become emotionally and creatively constipated.
Let’s promise ourselves to overlook the early hiccups, start afresh and hope that it lasts. The idea here is to pledge again in the coming days, rather than give up. So remember this, new year resolutions are less about achieving perfection and more about embracing the beautiful mess of being human, so raise a glass (of red wine, or maybe just juice at this point) to the inevitable broken promises. Focusing on the positives will help you stick to your resolution and make it happen. Let 2025 be the year of rejuvenation and good health! Happy new (slightly used) year!
(Vimal Kapoor, a Dehradun resident, is passionate about literature, creative writing, cricket and exploration through travel)
