1.1.2006
Dear Diary,
Happy New Year. It is 2006 already! Wow! I am so excited. Today I have made a new year resolution to brush my teeth every night before I go to sleep. Daddy says yellow teeth is bad oral hygiene. Mummy says Dr. Banerjee will pull out my rotten teeth and then I can never have chocolates. So done is done. I will I will I will I will brush my teeth twice a day. Thanking you. Bye.
Yep. Above I have openly copied my diary entry from standard seven. As any one can guess this promise was kept for exactly one week which was followed by- ' Getting back late and tired from Apurva's birthday party' , 'Sleepover at Nikita's house' and 'cold weather' ( doesn't even qualify to be an excuse). However 2006 passed , making way for 2007. I am not even going to start listing out the set of resolutions I had written on 31.12.2006.
Dear Diary,
Happy New Year. It is 2006 already! Wow! I am so excited. Today I have made a new year resolution to brush my teeth every night before I go to sleep. Daddy says yellow teeth is bad oral hygiene. Mummy says Dr. Banerjee will pull out my rotten teeth and then I can never have chocolates. So done is done. I will I will I will I will brush my teeth twice a day. Thanking you. Bye.
Yep. Above I have openly copied my diary entry from standard seven. As any one can guess this promise was kept for exactly one week which was followed by- ' Getting back late and tired from Apurva's birthday party' , 'Sleepover at Nikita's house' and 'cold weather' ( doesn't even qualify to be an excuse). However 2006 passed , making way for 2007. I am not even going to start listing out the set of resolutions I had written on 31.12.2006.
Recently I was in conversation with my best friend, overseas, where we agreed upon making a "realistic" set of resolutions. As much as I liked the idea, I was half amused with myself, shamelessly repeating history. Once I kept the phone down I could not help but ponder upon WHY on earth are we so incapable of keeping up with these resolutions, no matter how realistic they are?
I don't think anyone has an answer to it. As a child when this concept was introduced to us, I remember we used to bet on who held on the longest. For three consecutive junior school years there was this one girl who won the title. We often wondered how she managed. One year, our teacher told us that the resolution has to be something pertaining to the school or classroom, so that she can monitor all of us. Mine was to not lose my eraser till the end of the term. Well it was my mother's idea quite frankly. She was hoping that would help me keep my things safely. My partner, on the other hand, wrote that she would finish her lunch that she gets from home ( again I am sure her parents were behind this). Within three days she was caught feeding her half-eaten chapati to the School Peon's German Shepard.
I don't think anyone has an answer to it. As a child when this concept was introduced to us, I remember we used to bet on who held on the longest. For three consecutive junior school years there was this one girl who won the title. We often wondered how she managed. One year, our teacher told us that the resolution has to be something pertaining to the school or classroom, so that she can monitor all of us. Mine was to not lose my eraser till the end of the term. Well it was my mother's idea quite frankly. She was hoping that would help me keep my things safely. My partner, on the other hand, wrote that she would finish her lunch that she gets from home ( again I am sure her parents were behind this). Within three days she was caught feeding her half-eaten chapati to the School Peon's German Shepard.
Our winner quite smartly chose to read one article from the newspaper, TO THE WHOLE CLASS. No one will forget those cold, wintery Delhi mornings; students struggling to keep their eyes open when she marched right in front of the class and started in a loud, high-pitched volume- " THE TIMES OF INDIA, HEADLINES." Being the only exception in our class we half-admired, half-envied her ability to go on this way.
One funny thing about New Year Resolutions is that in our heads it always starts with- ' From now onwards....' . Have we ever asked ourselves the question as to why din't we do it TILL NOW? Definitely, the answer will be one of these- 1.) I never realised it. 2.) It is quite boring! 3.) I don't like it though I know it is the right thing to do. Oh! And the fourth one is the best. No reasoning. Simply quote- Better Late Than Never!
Struggling to keep away from starting a philosophical discussion, I cannot help but state this- The only thing that can make resolutions work is INCENTIVE and not a 'starting date'. I am sure if my teacher had announced that the winner shall be elected to be the next Prefect of the class, knowing myself well I would have made sure I never lost that 'Natraaj Eraser' even if it required me to keep it next to my pillow while sleeping. Otherwise, after a week you come to terms with your yellow teeth and learn from your peers that Dr.Banerjee will not pull out all your teeth at once.
Struggling to keep away from starting a philosophical discussion, I cannot help but state this- The only thing that can make resolutions work is INCENTIVE and not a 'starting date'. I am sure if my teacher had announced that the winner shall be elected to be the next Prefect of the class, knowing myself well I would have made sure I never lost that 'Natraaj Eraser' even if it required me to keep it next to my pillow while sleeping. Otherwise, after a week you come to terms with your yellow teeth and learn from your peers that Dr.Banerjee will not pull out all your teeth at once.
Having said that, as another year is coming to the close I have made up my mind to adhere to my best friend's words. I shall be making a set of 'realistic' resolutions ( I am thinking of calling them goals instead; hoping that the change in nomenclature will help) but this time giving myself an incentive to do so. So done is done. Thanking you. Bye.
That's an interesting observation. Thank you for sharing :)
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