An unwritten page to write on, an untrodden road to trek, an unspent coin to spend!!!

Everyone’s birthday!

That book called opportunity and that chapter called the New Year:

Samangie WETTIMUNY

Throughout the past, we have been exchanging greeting cards among ourselves on New Year’s day . “May the coming New Year be the best year in your life!” We used to wish each other. But when asked “What is the best new year in your living memory?” most of us tend to say that the best year is yet to arrive. Human mind is such that it always anticipates the future to be better than the past or the present. So how would 2011 be like? Do not switch off your mobile phone, never put it on silent mode on the eve of New Year! Let it make ‘Beep’ ‘Beep’ sounds from mid night till dawn and wake up on January 1 to find over fifty text new year messages in your inbox. Then log in to your email account to find over 25 e-cards waiting for you.

Other than on your birthday, it is on New Year’s Day that you wonder whether your friends are thinking about you as much as you are thinking about them. But as we grow old, birthdays become a reminder of old age, so is the New Year’s day “But its significance never dwindles. According to British writer Charles Lamb, “New Year day is everyman’s Birth day.”!

Way back in 1931, former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote a letter to his daughter Indira while being in Prison.

“Today is New Year’s day. As I lay in bed, very early in the morning, watching the stars, I thought of the great year that was past, with all its hope and anguish and joy, and all the great and gallant deeds performed.”

It might have taken several days for the letter to reach Indira’s hands. Many changes have taken place since then and now. Back in the past we had different ways of greeting each other on New Year Day. We would await the arrival of the post man at our doorstep who would deliver us a New Year greeting from a friend or a close relative who is living abroad. Now the ‘thumb culture’ has made things more advanced and much easier, so that it is just a matter of opening the inbox in your phone!

But do you know that not everyone loves to receive a greeting or a phone call on New Year day? An executive in a government Bank said that he knows who his true friends are, but none of them has ever wished him on New Year Day! “I get loads of New Year greetings on New Year Day.” He said. But unlike me, he wants you to switch off your mobile phone at the dawn of Year 2011 as “it will start making ‘Beep Beep’ sounds only to find a set of ‘most unwanted’ messages early in the morning.

Charles Dickens had stated that the New Year, like an Infant Heir to the whole world, was waited for, with welcomes, presents, and rejoicing. As the great poet T S Eliot said last years words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.

Have you ever wondered how different your life would have been had you taken different decisions during year 2010? However now is not the time to brood over your past, but to plan ahead for your future, so that your life will enter a new phase. Despite previous unpleasant experiences they had faced in life, some people manage to hold on to their optimistic views of the world. So shake your mind of gloomy thoughts. 2011 will be a year during which relationships will take on a new pace ,an year to understand the sense of duty that weighs on you.

An year in which we break down barriers, an year in which you find your feet in new situations.

Human Resources Development Director and lecturer Gamini Kumara Vithana says it is a must to prepare a proper plan now itself to face New Year with confidence and courage.

“We know about our past. The present is what we experience now. But the future... we do not know how our future would be like. The only thing we can do is make predictions about the future. That is why astrologers are in high demand. But we know one thing for certain: the future is arriving at a rapid pace.”

Vithana said that you should be intelligent enough to make proper plans so that you can welcome your future with open arms. “Being born as a human being itself is one of the greatest achievements. If you allocate your time efficiently now, the future too could be made productive.”

“You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth,” goes the popular saying. So as a new year dawns what we should think about is not its length, but its depth and width. In another words our focus should be on making each day meaningful.

“Day is the smallest unit of an year. But unfortunately Sri Lankans do not seem to give it much importance. I have often seen people brooding over unnecessary matters ,ignoring the worth of 24 hours.” As Vithana says the situation is completely different in countries such as Japan, USA, Korea. Each day is important to them and it is given much significance. “Most of the times it is only on the first day of the year that they wish each other, dress nicely and look energetic. By January 7 who we see is the usual lethargic man who hold a pessimistic view on life.” In fact it is quite meaningless to brood over what had already happened. You have to shape up your present life in such a way that you have a clearvision to face your future.

When asked of the best days to make New Year resolutions for the year 2011, Vithana said it is rather better to do it before the dawn of year 2011.

The ideal days are December 30 and 31. So you are not too late. Start working on it today itself!

“All 12 months should be well-planned ones.” As Vithana said a man’s life can be put into four different segments: Professional life, family life, social life and spiritual life. All four ‘lives’ should be maintained in a balanced way to reap the benefits of the New Year.

Year.

According to the Buddha 25 percent of your salary should be saved. According to Western thinkers 10 percent of your salary should be saved each month. It should not be taken for anything, but should be kept to be used in an emergency.

“Another important aspect is goal setting. If your aim is to develop language skills, you have to work for it. But make sure that all your goals are practical.”

Try to expand your circle of friends by adding good friends to it, but try to avoid bad company. As the Buddha said it is better to associate

with your own self as friend if you cannot find friends with noble qualities.

However busy you may be at office, You should pay equal attention to your family life as well. “You should try not to repeat the same mistakes that you committed last year.”

“It is better to go on trips every year as such outings would strengthen family bonds. You have to plan it now itself:The place to go, the period of the year, expenses, accommodation etc.

“Especially if your wife is full-time housewife, at least once a week, husband should take her out for dinner. Those may appear trivial on the surface, but means a lot to a busy housewife.”

He also highlighted the importance of celebrating one’s birthday on a grand scale. “You can do various things to make your partner happy. A surprise gift would be ideal.You should know that such small activities can make a lot of positives changes to our lives.

But be cautious never to bring your office work home. Similarly never take your family issues to office.”

If you are a Buddhist, you can allocate a few hours of your day for meditation or else allocate a few minutes of the day to admire the beauty of nature and try to be close to nature. Also allocate time to go to the temple or to your respective religious places.

Reading a book on Dhamma too would help enhance your mind spiritually.,

Your targets should be SMART :Specific, Measurable, Attainable,Realistic and Timely.

Targets should be specific. A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Human mind loves to visualize things. When your target is specific, you can visualize it easily. For example it is rather easier to achieve the goal if your target is to buy a ‘Suzuki Swift’ next year than just wanting to buy a motor vehicle. When goals or targets are specific it is easy to achieve them.

Target should be measurable. If your plan is to build a house you should know the number of rooms it is going to have. It is necessary to establish a real criteria for measuring progress toward the accomplishment of each goal you set.

It should be an attainable or achievable target. For example you cannot dream to be the owner of a star hotel overnight.

New year: An untrodden road to trek....

Also a goal should be realistic. To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work.

A goal should be grounded with a time frame.

Writing down your New Year resolutions in a diary and setting a plan to achieve them will help you make year 2011, the best New Year in your life, says Vithana.

“But you should not show your resolutions to anyone and your diary should be kept in a safe place where no one has access to it.”

“However there are a set of people to whom you should tell what your targets are because you cannot achieve them without their help. For example if you plan to buy a piece of land to build a house and if you desire to take a loan for that, you should go and meet the Manager of your bank!

It is a psychologically-held view that when you keep on discussing your aims openly, you will rapidly lose the mental strength which is vital to achieve that target.

Sometimes when you reveal your targets openly you become a laughing stock.

It is better to keep a spiral-bound book to note down the things you should do on a particular day. At the end of the day you can tear off the old pages.

“Note down the list of work you are supposed to do on a particular day. Put asterisk marks based on the importance of each work. Try to achieve all what you have written down. Try not to postpone work.

When you could achieve something you should reward your self. Self talk is important, you should applaud your own work by talking aloud to yourself. You should celebrate the achievements of targets.