By Alex P. Vidal
“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”—Rainer Maria Rilke
IT’S very risky to make a New Year’s resolution. F. Scott Fitzgerald has warned us that after we take a first drink, “then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.”
Like many people, I used to make one before the clock hit midnight in signaling the start of a new year.
But that was eons ago when I still believed in Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse, and Star Wars. From the New Year’s resolutions, I actually turned to the New Year’s wishes as a grown up.
Resolutions and wishes are actually similar in many applications but when we connote something that geared toward a big change or a paradigm shift, resolutions can be attained since they are self-managed, while wishes will remain as wishes if nothing comes out according to our, what else, wishes.
Whether it’s to lose weight, get out of debt, pursue a coveted hobby, socialize more, or something else, for many, making New Year’s resolutions is part of the festivities, said Dr. Cynthia Vinney of verywellmind.com.
And with so many people committing to goals for the new year, the hope and optimism that change can happen is in the air.
The reality is, however, that over 90 percent of New Year’s resolutions will be abandoned within just a few months, Vinney said.
Why aren’t we more successful at keeping our New Year’s resolutions? Some reasons include the idea that we’re thinking too big, we’re not considering the ‘why’ behind them, Vinney saids, and the fact that we may not be ready for change.
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In many ways, the ritual of making resolutions on New Year’s is arbitrary. After all, we can set goals at any time. What is it about the turning of the calendar year that makes us especially likely to commit to big goals? “The New Year (is) an opportunity for reflection,” according to licensed clinical psychologist Terri Bly of Ellie Mental Health in Mendota Heights, MN.
Meanwhile, some of my New Year’s wishes have been mostly not necessarily for my personal benefit but have continued to be unmet or unresolved these past years. They were simple yet hard to envisage if not impossible to realize.
Graft and corruption, for instance, is one wish for all public officials and civil servants with access to cookie jars that might never come true. Another wish meant only for the stars is world peace. Each year, a war is mounted against a territory, weaker or inferior nations, smaller countries and border communities like the Philippines and Gaza.
Since time immemorial, world peace has been hard to attain, nay make as a New Year’s wish.
In the Philippines, vote-buying during the election, oil price increases, traffic in major metropolitans nationwide, wanton destruction of natural resources and land and sea habitat, nepotism, illegal drugs, crime, sex tourism, child pornography are only some of the major but horrendous realities and inanities that are hard to meet in a New Year’s wish.
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WOMEN NEED TO SAVE MORE FOR RETIREMENT THAN MEN. Reason: After retirement, women live an average of 22 years, compared with 19 for men. Women must save an additional 2 percent a year for 30 years to make up for that difference.
THE FRESH SMELL OF RAIN COMES FROM PLANTS. When the weather is dry, certain plants secrete an oil that is absorbed by rocks and soil. When it rains, the oil is released into the air as a gas, creating an aroma called petrichor. (KnowledgeNews.Net)
DOODLING IMPROVES MEMORY. People who doodled while listening to a boring phone message remembered 29 percent more about the message than those who didn’t doodle.
DON’T PUT ICE ON A BURN. Several published studies have shown that putting ice on a burn can damage the skin further, even causing frostbite. It is much better to run the burn under cold water, take a pain reliever and cover the burn with gauze.
INJURIES FROM FALLING TVs are on the rise among children age nine and under–sometimes because TVs are pulled or pushed by children or tipped over when a child is climbing. THEORY: In recent years, heavier and larger, tip-prone TVs have increased in popularity. SELF DEFENSE: Strap a TV to a table stand or mount it to a wall.
GARDENERS ARE AT RISK FOR TETANUS. The bacteria that causes tetanus, also called lockjaw, is commonly found in dirt and on tools. Gardeners account for more than 1/3 of the tetanus cases reported in the U.S. each year. SELF-DEFENSE: Get a booster shot every 10 years. Tetanus is rare, but it can be fatal.
LATE CAROLERS. Some politicians still “out-of-town” (euphemism for running away from carolers) should go back to their respective residences and stop moving around like scared rabbits. They should now face the late carolers bravely and start a new life.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers.—Ed)
