IN THE GRIP OF TIME

Even before the sound of the blaring loudspeakers belting out hit numbers from recent ‘block-buster’ movies at the New Year’s Eve party fade away from his memory,  Mehul already had something else on his mind; ‘How to wake up early the next day?’- was both a question as well as his ‘new year resolution’! With Mehul still asleep and cosy on his bed at 10:30am on the 1^st of January, the question ‘Do New year resolutions work?’ wakes up to us.

One wonders what is so special about a ‘New year resolution’ that sets it apart from other commitments. While it seems to be working for a few, it has most often than not failed to keep company with the enthusiastic resolution-maker for the length of the year. It is therefore no wonder that we have the adage that ‘resolutions are meant to be broken! ‘But, what about the great resolve with which most of us take up resolutions and vow to stick on with for the rest of the year? It is an enigma for many as to how and why their resolve wanes.

It is important to probe into the nature of ‘resolutions’ before we could ask ourselves if they really work. Most of the resolutions that people take up are firm on an idea but weak on their time of implementation. When the deadline is not fixed in time, then it becomes very easy for one’s own mind to wriggle out of this new stranglehold. For instance, ‘I will not smoke’ or even ‘I will quit smoking’ sounds resolute enough to last long but simply comes apart. The trick lies in making a ‘time-bound’ commitment. A resolution works best when it is tied to a duration of small measurable units of time like a week, a fortnight or a month. Saying, ‘I will not smoke for the next one week’ has proven to work wonders as there is a sense of achievement at the end of the week.

This system of reward and reiteration also increases ones confidence in oneself as well as sets the ball rolling for the new commitment to bear fruits. Just as a pitcher can be filled by a steady flow of minute drops, resolutions can also be strengthened by small time-bound commitments, renewed regularly. Just like one doesn’t require to light up the entire road from the beginning to the end for a night-journey but is suffices by the headlights of a car lighting up to a few metres ahead, one can go a long way just by defining short time-bound commitments.

The back-bone of any resolution is the need or urge to bring about a change and to free oneself from binding and energy-draining habits. Stronger the need for this change, stronger is one’s commitment and faster one’s independence from the vices. One may stumble once in a while or even many times on this path, one simply has to renew one’s commitment to one’s cause immediately.

With this much in mind, whatever one’s resolution may be, whenever one might decide to begin, one can very soon be independent of one’s habits and emerge out glowing and basking in the newly gained confidence. I know resolutions work, be it new or not!

Are you willing to resolve now?
ARTICLE SUBMITTED BY: PANKAJ A. DESAI
                                         4^TH SEMESTER, B.A.