I swore I wouldn't make a list of all the good and bad things that happened this past year - you know, the usual crappy stocktaking we all do when faced with a 'new' year. Is it new, though? Isn't every day new? So what makes one year different from another? Well, nothing at all really. It's a convention agreed on centuries ago to mark the passage of time with numbers, so we got used to marking mid-winter as the end of one year and the beginning of another. And around this convention, we've built a whole gamut of traditions to make this particular moment in time seem more important than any other time of year.
Newsflash, darlings: it's not. It's just another day in our lives, and there is nothing different about it in the least.
Not that I'm complaining. For one thing, it's a public holiday, and I love public holidays as much as the next person. Possibly more, because I usually have to be pushed into taking any leave from work, and it's never to relax anyway, so they usually provide me with some much needed R&R. [But I digress.]
There is something satisfying about laying the past to rest, and opening your arms and heart to the future. The more time passes, the more I realise that most people don't do this on a regular basis and actually require the rigmarole of New Year to carry out this essential mental and emotional cleansing. I do it every few months anyway, because I've learned the hard way that letting dead issues stack up in my mind is the correct recipe for a festering, maggoty mess inside my head.
Got that cheerful postcard firmly imprinted onto the screen of your imagination? Excellent! There's nothing quite like the mental scarring of some good advice for some character-building! ;)
I've decided that instead of regaling you, dear reader, with a list of glorified 'Thank god it's over!' and 'Thank god that happened!' moments from the past year, I shall write you a list of lessons that have served me well. Yes, lessons, because whoever said education stops at school or university or any kind of formal training was lying to you, the bastard.
1. You will find yourself faced by obstacles of all types throughout your life, because life is hard, and would be terribly boring if it weren't. Accept this fact and get on with living - because if you don't, what's the alternative? Losing your place in the gene pool? Oh dear.
2. Humans are a destructive, invasive species. As a sentient being, appreciate that you, your loved ones, and the rest of the race are a poison to the very planet that supports you. Be kind to your environment while you can, before it becomes as poisonous for you as you are for other organisms. Because once it does become deadly to humans, memories of the non-murderous environment may be the only thing keeping you warm at night.
3. Stupidity abounds! Be grateful for your intelligence, and understand that the smarter you are, the greater your capacity for stupidity - 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall', as it were.
4. Medicine is a godsend, but deities are renowned for their cruelty as well as their kindness. I'm talking about side effects. I'm talking about chemical dependency. Mostly, I'm talking about quality of life. Don't swallow a pill when another solution exists. Pills should be used with caution, when necessary, and not because you want a quick-fix to your health problem. Quick-fixes are notorious for a reason.
5. Treat your body with respect: it's the only one you have, and the only thing you'd be left with if you lost everything but your life.
6. If you don't want to do something, for whatever reason, but it has to be done and there's no way around it, quit whining, suck it up, and do it.
7. Always have at least one hobby: you'll socialise, you'll have something to talk about, you'll have an outlet for stress, you'll be a better, happier person overall.
8. Resist technology at your peril. We live in an age where society is no longer just physical, but digital, and any attempt at staying away from the digital world will actually cut you off from a growing portion of society. I'm not saying go out and buy the latest hardware and software; but I am saying get comfortable with the changes in social interaction.
9. Get creative. Use your imagination, exercise it. Watch movies, read books, view visual art, listen to music, sing, dance, act, paint, make things; but more importantly, engage with whatever creative outlet you're into. Passivity is for puppets, and last I checked we're not made of wood.
10. The single most important bit of advice that I've come across in my short lifetime: keep moving forward. Don't dwell on your failures, don't dwell on the past, don't obsess over 'what if?', and don't get stuck in the now. Just... Keep. Moving. Forward.
As posts go, this is perhaps one of the grouchiest I've pattered out. I have yet to experience a year's end free of stress, running about like a beheaded chicken, free of ridiculous expenses, and so on; in short, I have plenty of reasons to be grouchy [don't we all?]. And I'm thankful for that, because it means I'm (a) alive, (b) surviving, (c) in control, (d) happy, (e) doing my damnedest to keep things that way. I am lucky enough this year that I can tick off (a) to (e), and while it's hard, because living is hard, I'm bloody glad about the whole thing.
Here's to us, my friend. We're alive, and we're damn well kicking.
Sincerely,
Macs
