Resolutions Review in April

Every year we habitually make our New Year resolutions. By the time we're about to sing Auld Lang Syne, the strange concoction of regrets and hope swirls in our heart. Regrets for what's not been carried through from our January resolutions. Hope and relief that the coming year offers the opportunity to have another go once the clock strikes twelve.

Last Sunday, April's Fools visited planet earth. We're true fools if we keep doing the same things and expecting different results! It's like plodding on in a rut without attempting to check our bearings and our map to see if we're headed in the right direction. Think muddy wagon trails!

April's a good time to evaluate our progress in our resolutions. Hopefully, there's some ticks. And for the resolutions yet unfulfilled, don't be too quick to cross them off. There's still time in the year to make good our resolutions.

Where are we really? I picture resolutions like the rungs of a steep and tall ladder. Right at the top, it reaches the 365th floor of Building 2012. If you're vividly imaginative and have a fear of height, that's scary! To my knowledge there's no such ladder in existence in the world. It only lives in my imagination. So that's a relief for those with height phobia.

So now, I'm on the rung facing the paneled windows of floor number 96! I think a ladder is a good enough analogy for me. It tells me to keep focused on the next rung and the next and the next. One by one. And, don't look down! Concentrate!

Keep a firm grasp with both hands. Make sure my feet have a firm footing on the steps. Don't even think of what will happen if I fall. Get into a rhythm. Be systematic. Don't get distracted by the pigeons! Each careful step brings me upwards and nearer my goal. Perhaps, there are other analogies out there, better than the one I've got. But that's fine too.

This ladder, for me, is a symbol of risk taking. Taking calculated risks is the price for progress towards success. Each step takes me a few inches higher. With each upward step, it also means a longer fall .... should I fall.

Come to think of it, beyond a certain height, which can be measured by the floors of the building, a fall equal a guaranteed death. So, logically, climbing each floor higher does not mean an increased death! If you fall, you're dead on arrival at ground zero. It doesn't really matter if you fell from the 20th floor or the 50th floor or the 90th floor. You'll still be equally dead!

Of course, in this analogy, falling to earth does not mean going back to the 1st January. There's no such thing in real life. We can't go back in time. We can revisit our past, vaguely, inaccurately, but we can't go back there to do or undo historic acts. The thought that sticks like chewing gum in my brain is that if I were to fall, this is just a figurative thought. And that's a mighty relief.

It's going to be just a mental splat on the hard cement, where I'll lie on briefly. Then I'll unstick myself from the concrete (like in the cartoons), get up, rush back up the ladder! Figurative speech can be beautiful therefore! In real life, such a fall is brutal. And terminal.

:)

If you're still reading till now, the good news is you've not flat lined. You're alive! And that's great!

So how's your resolutions review?

Mine? Not too bad. Needs further improvement.

Cheers!