Set No Wake-Up Calls in 2010

The countdown for the New Year has started. Immature persons are thinking hard to decide on a remarkable New Year resolution which can transform their life in a night and experienced persons like us, who are guilty-ridden about breaking their resolutions every year, are working seriously on the reasons of failure and finding a failure-proof resolution. While I was straining my every nerve to find out the answer, one difference kept striking me. ‘Why all those saints who left their homes in search for truth never came back and we, who start something on January first, sooner or later always land back on our original position?’

The answer to our problem perhaps lies in this difference. Those saints were ‘awake’ and for us January first has become a common time when all of us set up wake-up calls. By setting up wake-up calls, we think that our job is done. What happens next is similar to what happens when we hear the wake-up call in the morning. It is almost always a nuisance.  But what if you have an urgent meeting at 9 AM and you need at least an hour to travel to the office and there is the possibility of getting fired if you are even a single minute late? You will jump on your feet as soon the alarm bells rings. So the first point is that the success of your resolution depends on how much importance it has in your life.

This importance is relative. A boy will not wake up even if you remind him of some important function is school. It might be important for the school and you but he is least interested. But you promise to take him for kayaking or something which he always wanted to do and he will wake you up before you hear the alarm. So, the second thing is how attractive is the proposal.

For the common resolution like quitting cigarette one might know the bad effects of smoking on lungs and health and attracted to quit but still smoking might be not too serious to struggle against. So the third point is that even if your resolution is something very important and attractive, ask yourself, does it really touch you deep?

Jogging and quitting smoking might not touch me really deep but what if I want to follow my wish for them and I am taking the New Year as an opportunity to initiate something which I always wanted to do? This is a little confusing. Jogging and smoking are habits. They are not one-point decision like taking admission in an institute. Once you have taken admission, you are into it but for daily jogging you have to start every day until it becomes your habit. If you want to quit smoking you have to struggle with yourself every day not to give in to the temptation.

Other types of resolutions remind me Socrates’ famous quote ‘Knowledge is virtue.’ Many may disagree but for Socrates it was impossible to believe that if you ‘knew’ there was a pit two steps ahead still you would fall into it. For him knowledge was ‘knowledge’ i.e. realization not information which could be forgotten.  So, financial gains, success in business, progress etc. are such that if you really want them and know how to proceed then for you first January is only a date to remind you of that. You will achieve them even if you do not resolve about to do so as your New Year promise to you.

But then what about New Year resolutions? I suggest we had better resolve to make an effort to live a conscious life, not for this January but for the rest of the life. Buddha was shaken by the agony of life around him and woke up so he had no reason left to come back. Shake up your soul. You may continue living as you live but from now onwards just see every day passing. Do not pass life , live it. Look at your surroundings. Feel yourself, feel others. Do not set wake-up call this year but just wake up. And, all your resolutions will resolve themselves.

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Rachana Sharma has Doctorate in Philosophy and Masters in Philosophy and Sanskrit. She has published articles in various philosophical journals such as Paramarsh (Pune University), Journal of Philosophical Research (New Delhi), and The Philosopher’s Index (Ohio University, USA).