Yesterday, just as I was packing up my diary and journals of 2022, a strange thought crossed my mind. What is all this excitement of New Year’s Eve about? What are we actually celebrating on 01st January? How and why are we celebrating the beginning of a new year without even knowing what’s in store? Or, are we celebrating our having gotten rid of another year, with all its twists and turns, thrills and travails? In fact, even when we celebrate our birthdays, do we celebrate our getting older and moving one step towards the final destination? Or, do we celebrate our still being alive and getting another chance of life, no matter how uncertain? Just as I was mulling the last question, the penny dropped.
We humans, despite how psychologists and writers portray us to be, are optimists by nature. Marching on to the beat of a deeply inscribed desire for survival, we always keep finding opportunities to get better and evolve. This urge is what helped nations ravaged by wars and plagues to rebuild themselves and emerge stronger out of their ashes. This urge is what keeps the seemingly weak organisms thrive despite the ever-looming danger of predators and bigger threats.
All these little milestones of new years and birthdays are nothing but microcosmic expressions of that Universal urge to evolve and keep going. This urge, this sensing of opportunity is what fills gyms on the first weeks of the new year. This is why people sound more optimistic and energetic than at any other time of the year. This is what makes us all set lofty goals, make sparkling plans and dream colorful dreams for the year ahead. Just as I felt that, I also sensed the overall sentiment in the air around this time – a sense of opportunity.
The year 2022 was one of hope. Having been caged in for two years by the pandemic, the whole of humanity rushed forward in 2022. We all hoped for a better year in 2022 and at least for most of us, it turned out to be better than the previous few years. Now, this 2023 may be the time, we all put our feet firmly and grab our opportunities - of not mere materialistic nature, but of a superior kind. With the pandemic showing signs of finally being controlled, can we grab the opportunities of Life this year?
The opportunity to love, to exist in peace, to better ourselves, to improve as a whole as mankind, is up for grabs. Can we make use of that opportunity? Hate is ruining the world. Materialism and consumerism are threatening our long-term survival. Spirituality is slowly vanishing, supplanted by self-aggrandizing interpretations of eternal truths. Human ties are either loose or vanishing altogether. Will we find the opportunity to bond better with our fellow humans this year? Will we make better use of this shining opportunity called 2023? Knowing the human spirit, which has the knack of raising above itself when an opportunity beckons, I am hopeful we will.
So, here’s hoping you and yours have a pleasantly memorable 2023. May this be the year where you fulfil not just your desires but also your destiny. May this be the year that we all grab the opportunity to be the better versions of ourselves – healthier, kinder, calmer, more sensible and more divine!
Happy New Year 2023!
