It’s a new year again! Can you believe it? It turns out that despite humanity’s best efforts, planet Earth has not yet imploded. But as they say, now’s not the time for pessimism (or plain realism, depending on your views on the matter). Now’s the time for new year’s resolutions.
New Year, New Me?
As far as I can remember, people around me have always asked what my new year’s resolutions were. I didn’t really have any, except for more generic ones, including:
- Not dying in the next 12 months (I am proud to say that this has been this only resolution I have managed to keep year after year so far)
- Not making myself unnecessarily miserable
- Not becoming someone despicable
Were there other points to my list of resolutions?
Sure, there were many. But only a few of them were realistically achievable. For the rest, they were the product of the hyperactive imagination of a compulsive daydreamer.
Unfortunately, I have not made friends with any of the Care Bears, not even the Lion Care Bear (who always confused the living crap out of me; is he a lion or a bear?). My younger self would be disappointed.
I have not become fluent in every single language on the planet, nor have I invented my own language yet.
I do not live in a large house with a donkey, an owl, a rabbit, a pigley, a stuffed tiger doll, and a little bear.
I have not helped world peace one bit. Naturally, I have not contributed to starting wars either, but as a wishing-to-be peace-maker, I have achieved precisely NADA.
It was always a case of new year, dream me. I didn’t quite get what new year’s resolutions were for, so the majority of things I put on my mental list were designed to forever remain out of reach.
New Year, Better Me?
What is a new year for if not to become the best version of yourself you can be? Honestly, I can see the logic in it. But I can’t say I am hugely invested in bettering me. What does better even look like?
If I ask my mom, the days when she was suggesting new year’s resolutions to me are long gone, but she did have a clear image of what the improved me 2.0 should be like:
- Be a good student with the best grades (but would never be satisfied with a 100% score and would always expect 101% out of 100%) This particular resolution was systematically about materialising that imaginary 1% out of thin air. Ironically, if we go down the imaginary number route, “i”, perhaps being “me” would have ticked the resolution off my list!
- Tidy my room and my desk regularly. You can’t hit 101% with a spotless desk that looks like it’s never been used. But, in her defence, my desk was the perpetual aftermath of a major nuclear war. This was be the kind of resolutions that I’d keep for the best part of 12 seconds before I’d lose myself into something else.
- Do more sports. Aside from the mandatory PE at school, I’d sporadically attend some extracurricular activities. From fencing to climbing, I’ve tried many and none really stuck. It wasn’t quite a problem with fitness or laziness. I just hated that sports would constantly steal my precious time away and prevent me from doing the things I actually wanted to do.
- Make more friends. I did try. But that stupid Lion Car Bear remained firmly out of reach. Besides, when would I have the time to make friends on my quest to the imaginary 1% while fencing with my climbing gear on the side of a mountain?
I can’t really tell how keeping any of those new year’s resolutions would transform the imperfect me from last year into a new improved me.
All things considered, there was never a better me in sight. The only me you get is a socially awkward and dramatically unrelatable eejit who over-intellectualise the heck out of everything. This is really the top of the range. If you want better, you should have ordered another model.
New year’s resolutions are not about finding the best version of myself. I am it right now at this moment. This may not be the best of all, but this is the best of me.
New Year, More Silent Wishes?
What’s a silent wish? I’m glad you’ve asked. It’s a wish you silently wish for yourself but don’t share with anybody else. People laugh. People talk. And just like cats, people like to sit in boxes. A silent wish is a wish that doesn’t fit in someone else’s box.
Those little things you desperately want for yourself but that you know you can’t share openly. There have always been a few of those in my new year’s list.
Imagine my excitement when finally, in 2025, I can tick the oldest item of my silent wish list:
- Publish a book for people to enjoy
This particular wish dates back from a time when I wrote my age in single digits.
Paul and myself are counting on you to welcome the first book of THE SHADOW OF PHAEDRUS, The Dead Shadow with open arms when it’s released in 2025.
Cheers to a new year and to meeting our brand new readers!
New year’s resolutions are what you make of them, whether you opt for generic health and fortune aspirations, a path to self-improvement, or fulfiling old dreams.
We wish you a year filled with smiles, warmth, and joy whatever you decide to do.