 You make your life, nature has done its job of giving you a chance, advises Nagesh Alai
As 2025 turns the corner to oblivion and 2026 welcomes us to realms of possibilities, we will be prone to reminisce about our hits and misses in the year gone by and a heightened sense of anticipation about the incoming year. The pervasive resolutions that hall mark this time of transition, birth out of an acute sense of introspection and realisation of ‘what if’ and ‘what could be’.
Personally speaking, I had given up making resolutions years ago, not because I do not have a resolve or intent to be a better version of myself or do things betters, but quite simply because of my poor score card on the twelve months’ of trying to live by those resolutions. Resolutions, by definition, are peremptory while our responses may be reactionary depending on the situation and our state of mind at the moment. Very often, I weed out the unimportant and focus on the urgent that will make a difference to me and act on them, resolution or not. While this may be some kind of self-justification and appealing to me personally, but not universally, there is no doubt that resolutions do serve as a lighthouse for us to land plodding, if not running, in the daily roads of our walks in life. The needle of resolutions does move somewhere in the recess of our minds and perk us up.
With this context and awareness of resolutions, a random, but doable, simple list of 26 dos and don’ts could be the following:
- Love thyself – 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work and 8 hours for other needs
- Know your family, friends and foes
- Be discreet how and with whom you spend your time; its precious and limited
- Love whatever you do, if not don’t waste your time
- Attune your body clock to early mornings, the most calming time of the day
- Meditate daily, introspect daily. It will be a struggle, but will aid self-discovery
- Go for a walk daily – a minimum of 30 minutes, maximum of 60 minutes
- Do weights – at least thrice a week. It is necessary to build muscle strength
- Take a plunge in a sea, river, lake or a pool – for differentiated experiences
- Go on nature trails and treks – easy or arduous dependingn what suits you
- Visiting a religious place regularly could be soothing to the soul
12. Pause for a while before taking any decision. Collect your thoughts, don’t rush
13. Any choice that you exercise means a rejection of some other – weigh carefully
14. Don’t fret if you are not invited. But don’t miss if you are invited
15. Anger is poison, retaining it is suicide. Get a grip on it
16. Don’t opine unless asked for
17. Trust your body, but go for periodic health check up and take proactive care
18. Avoid a fall, tread carefully – metaphorically and realistically
19. Don’t stretch your resources, be mindful of your needs, ignore the wants; temper consumption of anything
20. Save before you spend, not the other way
21. Invite your friends to your home or a club, host a get together. Stay connected
22. Give up the inimical like cigarettes etc. Why let your life go up in smoke?
23. Read a book – at least two in a month. It will be enjoyable and energising
24. Travel as often as you can. Get to know people and cultures and diversities
25. Digital detox is a must. Figure out a way that suits you. Don’t put it off
26. Detachment, solitude are good; but aloofness is not. Have a healthy balance
Tougher the resolutions, more challenging would be the implementation. Hence the list has been consciously kept simple and achievable. Each of the elements in it, singularly and collectively, would be transformative to our body, mind and soul and contribute to a meaningful and joyous life.
Try it out and see where it takes you in the next 365 days. You may add or amend the list based on your approach. But make it a routine, make it a habit, make it consistent and you cannot but be benefitting out of it. If at the end of 2026 you do not see a change in your life and living, it can only mean that you have not tried hard enough or have been less than resolute or have discarded it the moment you got out of your celebratory inebriation.
But don’t fret, get back to the drawing board and start all over again. For with every passing year of non-success, the prospective years will only get lesser and time you out. You make your life, nature has done its job of giving you a chance.
Happy resolutions, Happy 2026.
