So here it is; the new year post.
There's a widespread trend happening in Shanghai amongst my friends right now; everyone is cleansing/detoxing/healthy living....for the month.
Everyone has this new wind to get their 'shit together' for the month of January. Come February they're ready to go back to their old ways.
This isn't a Shanghai trend, it happens all around the world.
It's what we do, we try to change, to do better, to be better because we know it's in us, each and every one of us, to be a better version of ourselves.
'Our capacity to fail is essential to what we are. We need to preserve, cultivate, even treasure this capacity. It is crucial that we remain fundamentally imperfect, incomplete, erring creatures, in other words that there is always a gap left between what we are and what we can be.'
This quote comes from a NYT piece I posted a while back; 'In Praise of Failure' by Costica Bradatan. I don't think there has been an article that I have read and gone back to so many times.
It's this gap, this gap of what we are and what we want to be that brings us back to the same drawing board every January.
In 2012 I will...
In 2013 I will...
In 2014 I will...
Ironically, this gap reveals our lazy, or maybe better said, maybe at times, unproductive nature, while simultaneously it functions as a main source of fuel and encouragement for us to do better and be better. For some reason, January 1 really makes that gap much more visible.
Every time I examine my own gap, I get all down and out.
"WHY CAN'T I BE LIKE STEVE JOBS AND JUST KICK ASS LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTRE?"
"WHY CAN'T I NOT EAT THOSE GOD DAMN GUMMIE BEARS?"
and then I get all...
"THIS MONTH I NEED TO DO THIS, THIS AND THIS AND THIS."
"IT'S TIME TO KICK ASS OR CHEW GUM, AND I'M OUT OF GUM." (I actually tweeted this last week.)
And thus, the gap plays an essential function. Bradatan:
Most of us (the most self-aware or enlightened excepted) suffer chronically from a poor adjustment to existence; we compulsively fancy ourselves much more important than we are and behave as though the world exists only for our sake; in our worst moments, we place ourselves like infants at the center of everything and expect the rest of the universe to be always at our service. We insatiably devour other species, denude the planet of life and fill it with trash. Failure could be a medicine against such arrogance and hubris, as it often brings humility. Our capacity to fail is essential to what we are.
The gap is our tragedy, as much as it is our blessing.
Sure there are several external factors that can inspire you to do a little better in 2014, but ultimately, the most powerful factor is our own personal acknowledgement that we are faulty material. And when we acknowledge this, we take it back to the drawing board...usually just before the new year commences.
"NEW YEAR, NEW ME!"
2014.
My new years resolution list sits in front of me at my desk.
I look at it everyday.
Many people do not stick to their new years resolutions.
Many people do not even take the time to make new resolutions.
Many make fun of the process.
I acknowledge the fact that I probably will not be less connected, and I probably will not learn how to pack lighter, and I probably won't read as many books as I set out to. I will try though...
I also acknowledge new things on my list that would not have been there last year if I didn't make resolutions in 2013. For example: learning conversational Mandarin would have never made it on my 2014 list, had 2013's list not encouraged me to move away.
It's crucial. IT IS SO CRUCIAL THAT WE ALL JUST WANT TO BE A BETTER VERSION OF OURSELVES. It's also crucial that we be dreamers, but just as crucial that we be do'ers. Be diligent with yourself and your goals.
'If it weren’t for some dreamers, we would live in a much uglier world today. But above all, without dreams and utopias we would dry out as a species. Suppose one day science solves all our problems: We will be perfectly healthy, live indefinitely, and our brains, thanks to some enhancement, will work like a computer. On that day we may be something very interesting, but I am not sure we will have what to live for. We will be virtually perfect and essentially dead.'
2013, it was a sincere pleasure.
I am so lucky and so grateful for every single thing, good and bad.
You brought me to here and now.
2014, I look forward to all your highs and lows.
I look forward to new challenges.
Whether your resolutions be 30 days long, or 365 days long, they are indicators that you identify your shortcomings. They speak to the fact that you know you can be better and that is the single most important step. It is this struggle that will bring out the best in all of us.
There's lots of ass to kick in 2014 and I hope you all kick ass.
