What shall be my resolves for this year?

The festive season of Christmas is upon us. As they say we shall all be goaded to unwrap our personas and let the cheerful, forgiving, outgoing and loving side of us, come out in the open. The western media has done such a good job at hyping this period that even slothful individuals do rake up enough energy to unglue their backsides and stand up to be counted. They even do the unthinkable by acting out some friendly gestures. This is one activity in which the media has done well – for whatever reason.

So we are sensitized to take a look back; yes look back at ourselves. I realty am highly appreciative of the great job this brain-washing has done; something all the other sermons could not make the lethargic, lazy and reluctant individual do. Every culture and faith has festivals with the same ethos but Christmas cheer’s reverberations are unique. Even a nasty guy like me feels like being kind for a change.

So I am looking back. And I am unhappy. My heart is heavy for all the regrets it carries.  With passing years I have slowly and with certainty realized the uselessness of being virtuous. All those times when I had the opportunity but decided to be the gentleman. Do you think I am remembered for those acts; yes I am but as a lacl-lustre guy without charm or spine. And this is what I am regretting about. All the things I should have done and did not do. Not that I had the opportunity always anyway!

Our great poet Ghalib put it so well when he said
“Oh, Lord, it is not the sins that I have committed that I regret, but those which I have had no opportunity to commit.”

Yet, when I look back, I notice I have gradually slipped out of my stuffed shirt and the nice guy image I have been trying to impart. I don’t think I fooled anyone though. But this year I danced in the rain with my daughter and rolled in the dirt. I told all ladies who would listen to me that they were pretty and charming without meaning any of it. I spent time looking up other people. With some I unburdened myself by telling them what I thought of them so ambiguities did not remain between us; may the Lord forgive me for this break of the Ten Commandments. It was fun and I have really no regrets. I resolve to continue in my wayward ways.

I have only one aim now: to die without any regrets hanging over my spirit. I have absolutely no wish to remain down here as a disturbed unsresolved ghost hankering over unfinished business.

You will like these as well!

• My Favourite Quotes on New Year Resolutions

Featured Tickles Heal Your Relationships to Heal Yourself It has been rightly said that this world is a mirror. It reflects back our inner/true reality to us. As within, so without. Everything in our life; our job, our economic condition, our dwellings, and the people in our life reflect one or the other aspect of our reality. Isn’t this a beautiful arra Continue reading The Power of Unlearning As I picked up the vacuum machine and started vacuuming the carpet in my living room, a sense of dissatisfaction loomed over me. It had been just about a year since I bought this vacuum cleaner and it was already low in its efficiency. The buzzing sound of the motor from that machine sounded healthy Continue reading 15 elephant tethers that stop you from being creative! The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a building filled with archaic furniture. Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it. - Dee Hock When still a baby, the elephant is tethered by a very thick Continue reading Smoking a cigarette is like talking to your mother-in-law because... Once upon a time, many years ago, in prehistoric times, at a time when there were no cities, no buildings and perhaps even no villages, there was a hunter. He had had a successful day and was walking through a forest back to his tribe. He had slung a deer across his shoulder with some homemade rope Continue reading Here Is Your D-I-Y Kit For A Leading Edge Life Management gurus and their disciples, thinkers, strategists and business process re-engineers have been busy propelling the modern world into not only coping with, but also keeping in step with the rapid changes of an ever shrinking, increasingly competitive and exhaustingly demanding global market. Continue reading I Wish I Were A Goldfish I am told that a goldfish cannot remember anything beyond a 3 minute time frame. One of my favorite pastimes is to sit and watch our goldfish swim around lazily and rising up only to gobble at the food before going back to their contented existence. Their swimming around actually reminds me of chil Continue reading The Fine Art of Persuasive Communication! There are many areas to look at in communication: a message is communicated through visual, vocal and verbal means. From that, comes the importance of body language, how we present ourselves, and so on. The visual and vocal elements are indeed very important to effective communication, but we will Continue reading Teaching the teacher The arbiter of knowledge and skills, the teacher, is a revered figure around the world. In India, the teacher is known as the guru, the wise one who can be trusted to lead the knowledge-blind and shine the light of competence and skills in the darkness of ignorance and incompetence. Over time it ha Continue reading How To Nurture A Successful Relationship Have you ever wondered how certain couples were able to stay together for many years? What are they doing right? What are the factors that contribute to the success of healthy, long term relationships? There are a few fundamental components that will improve your chances of having a successful relat Continue reading Waves Of Inspiration I stay in the coastal city of Chennai and one of my favorite pastimes is to explore the coastline that borders one side of the city. Starting from the crowded marina and Eliot’s Beach to the less crowded and secluded ones that dot the East Coast Road (or ECR as it is called), I have always found Continue reading How To Be Depressed "Depression was, indeed, the hand of a friend trying to press me down to the ground on which it was safe to stand--the ground of my own truth, my own nature with its complex mix of limits and gifts, liabilities and assets, darkness and light." Parker Palmer I've never been through pregnancy depress Continue reading Make an ass of yourself but do not let the world know... Many a time we are swept by that overwhelming feeling to bare all. Not to be mistaken with confession which is done after ensuring that there is nothing further to lose on account of reputation. I am referring to pure tear jerker stuff. Born out of righteous indignation. Or plain stupidity. The form Continue reading Time management with the monks One mile south of Georgia O'Keefe's beloved Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, thirteen miles down a cliff-hugging dirt road in the heart of Chama Canyon, you will find Christ In The Desert. The Benedictine Monastery is cloister to about twenty monks. I'd fantasized about retreating to the remote monastery Continue reading Forcing yourself to get up early in the morning is pointless! A google search on early rising gives 1,500,000 results. Amazon has 6699 books on getting up early.  Countless self-development ‘gurus’ have written books and articles that extol the benefits of getting up before your friendly neighbourhood rooster does. They have together compiled a list of 10 Continue reading 5 Reasons Why I Got Off My Tail And Found A New Passion! I've taken some time this month to clean out my Gmail inbox, the main goal being to have a completely empty inbox. I went through each email one by one, until I got to the very last entry. It was labeled "journal" and dated 12/14/06. I knew it was there for me to print and tape into my actual jour Continue reading If Excellence Is Your Ideal Everything Else Will Fall Into Place A young man went to Gautama Buddha and sought the Master’s guidance on how to achieve Enlightenment. The conversation, which in my opinion must be required reading for anyone, went roughly as follows: Young Man (YM): Master, how long will it take for me to achieve enlightenment? Gautama Buddha ( Continue reading