Perseverance
It feels like just yesterday when people were wishing each other luck for the oncoming year and decade, but here we are onto the 43rd day already. Fortunately or not, we have an extra day this year. While a lot of people would be busy in their day to day schedule not thinking about how long we are into the year, for the small group of us who do, it becomes kind of important to think how well have we been able to keep our resolutions.
I am a person who doesn’t like to announce a new year resolution, for its difficult for me to identify one. However, I do like to set newer goals for myself. Since last few years, I try to take up something new at the start of the year — not necessarily on the first day — and keep a check on how long I can pull it off. This something has to be a stint that would make me feel alive, something that could keep me cheered up and also at the same time help me become a better person. It definitely should not have anything to do with my job or say career in general, for those are things that one is bound to care about even otherwise!
I remember how it started at the beginning of 2018 when I had plenty of free time and I was tempted to try something new and exciting. Neither did I have anything particular in mind, nor was it a resolution that I had to finalise on the first day. I just wanted to be able to try newer things or do old things more regularly. Few days into the year I figured Cykul was organising a Republic Day Ride. The ride could be done alone or in groups of different sizes. Given that I hadn’t cycled for a long time, I chose to join in a group of four for a 100 km relay, along with three friends of mine. I enjoyed it so much that I drove a little more than my ideal share. That year I went cycling for a couple of more times on Sundays before I registered for the Independence Day ride in August. I was convinced that I wanted to participate in a 2*50 km relay but we were three enthusiasts. Since groups of three weren’t allowed, we pulled in a dummy registration, registered in a group of four and split the 100 kms among three of us.
At the beginning of 2019, being motivated from the previous year, I wanted to try my hand at something new again. While cleaning my room, I figured I had two books from Khaled Hosseini lying in my cupboard, with a thick layer of dust settled on it. I thought I should start reading at least one of them. Given that I was on my notice period at my first job (more on that sometime else), I had plenty of extra time as well. I, however, also realised at once that the reason I haven’t been able to develop a reading habit is not because of lack of time but due to lack of patience to be able to read a complete book. I took it up as a challenge and ended up reading both in a span of 20 days. For an avid reader, this might not be a great achievement but it gave me unforeseen happiness, for this is one habit I have tried to inculcate plenty of times and only failed. To continue my stint with pushbike, I pulled a 40 km ride on Republic Day that year. At the end of 2019, I had completed reading 5 books in the year, only achieving 50% of my target but beating my previous best by 66 percent!
Now, 2020; yet another change in calendar. In continuation to my previous year’s reading streak, this year I finished reading a book called ikigai by Hector Garcia and Albert Liebermann. I could continue with the older stints as per my wish but I definitely wanted to try something else as well. Fortunately or not, the thought came early this time in December itself. While thinking about the options, I realised how I have been someone who would want myself to be perfect in what I do. This, as I have mentioned in my second post, would keep me from trying various things. But then I learnt how one should never let go of the good in a quest to be perfect. I ended up writing blog posts for 7 consecutive weeks; sharing my personal life and my beliefs. There were a couple of weeks in between when I could not write; however, I grabbed that as an opportunity to let people read two of my poems. More importantly, in the process, I got over the fact that my display of self needs to be perfect. Nobody has been, nobody is and nobody will ever be. We are all trying!
While I continue to try and build a better version of me, I hope all of you readers who tried to do something new this year have succeeded so far, and if not, find ways and means for it. On the other hand, one major point to note is that one does not and should not need a change in calendar to be able to work towards their passion. Every day is a new beginning. Every night is a time to introspect. Maybe January wasn’t yours, but February could be. Maybe 2010s wasn’t yours, but 2020s could be. For its never too late as long as you start; and when you start, spring won’t be far.
Originally published at https://themarwaridimag.blogspot.com on February 12, 2020.
