Happy New Year 2020!

Well, it is that time of the year when stationery shops, fitness clubs, pizzerias and fancy pubs do roaring business. It is also that time of the year when the Internet gets choked with people sharing messages and images with one another - part sincere, many mere formality. Yup, I am talking about the 'new year' celebrations. Our lovely little planet has completed one more orbit around the Sun and we are only happy for it.

On this joyous occasion, please allow me to wish you 20 little changes in all sincerity.

1. May you have a year without TV. Trust me. Watching TV with all its 'reality' shows, serials and rabid news anchors is an insult to the common sense that we humans are all blessed with. Shun TV and thank me later for the positive changes you will feel within.

2. May you start focusing on your health. No, I am not asking you to enroll in a gym or bath in gallons of green tea. Just start respecting your body. Monitor the quality of your food intake. Start doing basic exercises. After all we are blessed with just one delicate body to live in.

3. May you start reading books. You need not start reading Nietzsche or Tolstoy right away. You can end up reading just one book in this whole year but please read. In this age of junk forwards, fake news and boring memes, a good book can help you retain sanity.

4. May you stop wasting life on work. Nope. I am not asking you to resign your job and go scuba diving. Just that I am asking you to stop taking in so much stress and pains on your jobs. We work to make a living. Not live to work for some corporate boss to enrich his stock value.

5. May you hug your parents. Kiss your spouse. Hold your children close and play with them. Appreciate your good friends. Life flows lightning fast and things all change rapidly. Appreciate the people when they are around.

6. May you learn a hobby. Pursue a passion. We may not all compose like Mozart. We cannot all paint like Da Vinci. But we can all be better than how we would be if we did not even begin our pursuits. Let loose that creative beast within you. 

7. May you learn about a new religion. In fact, first learn about your own religion to a good extent. Then learn about one more religion apart from yours. What you don't understand always scares you. Understanding about other religions, cultures and races is the only way to stay united in these perverted times. 

8. May you travel. We are all little frogs fond of our own wells - area, culture, food and language. Try visiting a new city, a new state or even a new country. Be a stranger, a foreigner. Spend your time fumbling for words, seeking directions and with a tinge of uncertainty and enthusiasm. Those sort of experiences stay with you forever.

9. May you declutter your homes and decorate them. Buy a nice vase and fill it with flowers. Spread aroma in your rooms. Stock up on comfy cushions. Place works of art around. Richness isn't just about money. It is a way of life. Surprisingly such a lifestyle is easily affordable.

10. May you look up at the night sky more often. All our festivals, calendars, religions depend on the events transpiring up there. On a rational note too, looking up at the night sky fills one's mind with awe and contemplating on the cosmic scale fills one with veneration and humility.

11. May you let go of the fear of 'what others will say'. The others are too busy with their own travails and thoughts to pay you any attention better than they pay to the YouTube commercials. They care either about your grand successes or crippling failures. The rest don't much matter to them. 

12. May you listen to music. All genres of it. Not just the ones composed by your favorite music directors, but also by all those little nondescript names. Listen to Baroque. Listen to Jazz. Listen also to the songs of birds. Nothing else heals and puts you back together like music does. 

13. May you stop postponing your dreams and desires. Sloppy beginnings and slow progress are on any day better than regrets over lost opportunities and bygone times. Start anew now. Start afresh every day.

14. May you take a sabbatical from your smartphones and electronic gadgets every now and then. It helps in detoxifying your mind and in turn your body. Trust me. You need not respond to every cinematic scandal, every stupid political statement and senseless gossip. Sanity is in knowing what to avoid.

15. May you stop trying to save the world. Start doing little acts of kindness. Begin by feeding the animals and birds in your area. Offer a packet of food to the beggar you meet on the road. Plant one tree. Just one in the whole of 365 days. That will do. For now.

16. May you take a sabbatical from the social networks too. Neither are you missing anything great nor are the people there going to miss you big time if you leave. Use it constructively. Use it wisely. And, use it sparingly.

17. May your political party, your religion, your favorite actors all count to nothing. How you behave with your fellow human beings is all that matters in the end of the day. You know nothing about your religion. You don't matter much to your favorite politicians and actors. But how you respond and respect one another is going to make a huge impact on the people you meet in your day-to-day life.  

18. These may be the fast-changing modern times, but certain quaint concepts still hold high value - chivalry, politeness, respect to elders, courteous behavior are all still appreciated by everyone. And, they cost almost nothing. May you be a beacon of all these qualities and more.

19. Aspiring to be richer is basic human tendency. Nothing wrong about it. But practise being content with what you have. May you appreciate all that you have which most others can't even afford. Once in a while, learn to live with the least possible possessions and see how you start feeling richer already, without even buying anything new. Aspire to be poorer every now and then. For a change. 

20. Last but not the least, may you invest in yourself. Your mental health. Your physical health. Your wants. Your needs. Your desires. You may love your family and friends to the moon and back, but let the beginning be the love for your own self. After all, you can't give others what you yourself don't have. Take care.

Stretching ahead are 52 weeks holding 52 new opportunities to become a new, better you. Here is wishing you well to succeed in at least half of those.

Happy New Year 2020!