The Joys of Small Things

A very Happy New Year to you !!

The month January more often than not holds hopes and anticipation for many. Hopes , of Losing the excess pounds piled up during the holidays, more exercise, more family time, more holidays, finding love, forgetting sorrow and annoying bits of the past year, the list goes on and on indefinitely.

To me, January is Gods little way of saying, there's still Hope. Nothing is too late to be unraveled, to be corrected. And his way of saying, there's always hope , for a new beginning.

Thats perhaps why we always have new year resolutions, stacked neck high up.  Its only natural that we turn a new leaf over as the whole world celebrates a new year. Some argue how new year resolutions dont work, of which i agree completely upon. Ive probably made millions hundreds of new year resolutions till date. Mostly upon my Father's insistence on turning a new leaf (at least ) on New Years 1st day.

He made us siblings write our resolutions on a sheet of paper and bring it along with us to the temple. (8am sharp) The first two hours would be serene (almost like a scene out of a movie, pattu pavadai, jasmine on my hair, big black pottu, eyes shut, lips chanting), and if you saw me, you would probably be under the impression that im a holy, pious, serious child (holds true exactly for two hours) But, after grueling hours of battling the hot sun, sweat, cumulative BO, stuffiness, smoke (anyone attending new year prayers in a Hindu temple will vouch for it), noise, jostling for one drop of holy water, i couldn't be bothered less about manners and let alone remember my resolution sheet.

To make matters more fun (or perhaps Powerful, in Father's opinion)  Father insisted we pray and chuck (his words were, offer) the sheet of paper into the fire thats being lit in the temple. As the paper, burnt, sometimes slowly, sometimes in a flash, or sometimes it just refuses to catch fire, my resolution ceases to exist. I was interested in the temple lunch, getting home and having an ice cold shower and changing into home clothes, and zzzzz.

Im assuming thats where I went wrong. And many others as well. Not the sheet to fire part literally but figuratively. We make resolutions, out of compulsion, to be in the trend of making resolutions, or simply to be able to have a conversation when someone asks whats your new year resolution. (That line has to be January's most used line). Plus most of us make resolutions that require too much specificity. My resolutions for 5 donkey years (all throughout high school) was to Study Hard and score straight A's. Like my resolutions which were never remembered, the A's never happened ;)

The last resolution i made was when I hit 17( study hard-straight a's). And it became a resolution, to never make any resolutions after that. Like all resolutions, this too shall be broken. Speaking to my love a few days before the New Year, we laughed at the  act of making up resolutions, and both of us agreed its a hopeless thing to do, that we dont need to make resolutions only on New Years, it can be short term goals made at any point of the year.

True, as I and many others (who think its a lost cause making resolution) would think. But the romanticism towards resolutions never do die. And the bug bit me. But this year, I didn't write it on a sheet and throw it into the flames. Simply because my resolution wasn't a forced one. It was something that struck me on my way to the temple.

My resolution for 2010 is to Record the Joys of Small Things!

Everyday we smile, guffaw, and feel AWESOME about little things in life ( sometimes a kiss from a child,  and sometimes being able to pee after holding it for what seems like ages ;-) )
And i thought, well, if i could record it all, and be able to re-read how much joy everyday is, it would make me ( and perhaps anyone who's reading it) chuckle, at least a little

Joy # 1, coming soon ;-)