New Year is the time when a lot of people stumble on the realization, “Another year has gone by!” We wonder for a few moments at the current of time that flows on, and then again we get busy. The funny thing is that this happens nearly every year. 2020 will be remembered for so many things. The challenges that it brought with it and the opportunities too. As we move ahead in 2021, let’s gracefully carry ahead the wisdom this year brought us. Here are some insights for doing so.
1. Some celebrate the new year regretting the past, some pray for a better future. Rare are the ones who wake up to reality and move time. As the new year approaches, let us resolve to be unshakeable within and move towards a better world. Time changes people, but some people change time. May you be one of them!
2. No year passes without joy or challenges. Use every moment of joy to serve and see every challenge as an opportunity for growth. Whatever events happened in 2020 are all gone. There were some pleasant days, some unpleasant ones; some happy days, some worthwhile days, and some days when you did nothing. The days you did nothing have not left any impression on your mind because nothing worthwhile happened. The impressions of the other days are on your mind because you think something worthwhile happened. Wisdom makes you realize that nothing is worthwhile, or rather everything is nothing.
3. Commit to dropping the past and starting a fresh new life. Be natural and loving. Serve and celebrate. Review the past and revive the spirit inside of you. Our spirit is covered by dust or ashes. The fire of the spirit is buried beneath the ashes. All that you need to do is to blow a little bit, and it will be rekindled again. Revive the spirit inside of you.
4. If you keep your gifts to yourself, life drags. If you share them, life flows smoothly. The year has left many different experiences. Some people felt it flew by so fast, while others felt it was dragging. What makes time lighter and what makes time heavier? What makes time longer and what makes it so short? It’s the mind. When the mind is united in wisdom, time flies. When the mind is away from wisdom, time moves slowly. It’s good to be committed to wisdom at the beginning of the new year.
5. This new year go to a place where everything is beautiful; that place is within you. Wherever you go after that you will add beauty. There is a place you can come where everything is beautiful. Tourists go from place to place looking for beauty. They try to take beauty from that place. Yet the most beautiful spot anywhere is right here. When you come here, you find that wherever you are, everything is so beautiful. Where is this place? Don’t look here and there. Where do you go? Within.
When you come here, then any place is beautiful. Then wherever you go, you add beauty there. Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe. Then you find that every day is a vacation and a celebration.
6. Resolve to do something good in society. Let us have the confidence that whatever we need will come to us. Don’t think only about yourself, but do some service activity. Do some good work in society, bring smiles to the faces of people, and gain some merit. If you bring smiles to the faces of others then you have a right to demand something for yourself. This is the real currency.
You need to have some bank balance first to shop, isn’t it? Seva makes your bank balance go up. Then when you ask for whatever you want, you will get it.
You can buy the whole supermarket if you have enough points. Let us resolve to do something good in society, and let us have the confidence that whatever we need will come to us; will be given to us.
7. With greater enthusiasm, have bigger goals for society and yourself. As you are coming to the end of this year, think of all those challenges you had, and how they have contributed to your growth. Think of how you handled these challenges, the mistakes you made, and the lessons you inferred. This is the first step. Next, think of the gifts that the past year has given to you, and how you will utilize them for the betterment of life on the planet.
8. It's not just the year that is changing. Your appearance, thoughts, feelings have all been changing. In fact, there isn’t a single cell left in you that you were born with. So what makes you ‘you’? If you find this out, your life becomes an eternal celebration.
9. When the mind moves with time, there is happiness; when it moves with events, there is misery.
10. This new year, learn from the previous year and move on, knowing that you are timeless. Imagine you are sitting on the bank of a river and watching the water flow. You are watching all the different things flowing by in the river. A ship is going in the river, logs are floating, leaves are flowing, some ducks are going by, and unfortunately, some garbage is also flowing in the river. You are watching everything moving, completely unperturbed. In the same way, when you sit on the bank of time and watch as time carries the events, you will be amazed as you notice that there is something in you that is not changing. You notice that you are not changing, and you are unaffected by anything.
11. Some wait for good times to come, others make time, good. A clear heart and sharp mind can make time better. Keep the cheer, joy, and smile throughout the journey of life. Everybody is on a conveyor belt and the belt is moving. Some are crying and walking while others are laughing and walking. But the conveyor belt is moving anyway. How do you want to move on this conveyor belt of time? It is your choice.
