Don't wait for another new year countdown...
A few years back my good friend from Mexico told me what she would normally do when the clock strikes midnight on the 31st December. I recently had to ask her for the details again so I could repeat it this year, considering it seemed to work out reasonably well last time I tried. She said:
“When it turns midnight, you eat twelve grapes, one at a time, for twelve resolutions and don’t forget to wear yellow undies for money or red ones for love! ”
The undies thing was definitely new to me. As it turned midnight first in Australia, I started wishing my friends a happy new year and one of them asked me “any resolution?” to which I replied I still had half a day to think about that. Midnight came to Delft, the lively water hub and innovative city of the Netherlands, but not my twelve resolutions… let alone one! Perhaps it was because I didn’t quite understand the meaning and purpose of resolutions for this particular moment and perhaps I didn’t understand why at midnight of 31st December and not any day, any month and any time of the year? So, my twelve grapes ended up with 3 wishes (x4) instead.
One is a wish for a good health (yes I know if you are not looking after yourself, how would you get your wish granted, but still I believe, there are things that you can’t control!). Two is a wish for happiness (and yes again I know it is all in our mind, if you choose to see things from a positive angle and if you choose to let go then you are likely to have a freer and happier mind). Third is a wish for good health and happiness always. Yes, it is very simple right. What I found interesting reflecting on my twelve grapes resolutions/wishes in the last 30 days was that none of that was relating to the passion I have for Everyone Matters, but it was all for myself, my greed? One (and Vanh!) can argue otherwise… for instance, if I was healthy and happy, I could be more creative in helping people to be happier at their workplace and life and get better at dealing with their struggles and able to free themselves and take further steps to explore their potentials. What is your number one resolution? And for how many of you is there a resolution grape to start treating other people with lower rank, with lower status, with no title…etc., with a bit more respect?
Don’t wait for another new year countdown, don’t wait for resolutions, just do it, even just doing it once this year – smiling sincerely to someone you never previously acknowledged or saw existed in your everyday life.