No countdowns, no happy-merrying. Just a sombre me, a half-awake wifey and a sound asleep baby on the bed as the clock struck 12 on 1st January 08. That's in stark contrast to the way we celebrated 06 and 07.
06 was spent under some trees along Marina Promenade arguing while waiting for the fireworks followed by some shed tears with promises to start afresh. 07 was spent somewhere in the vicinity with a much happier outlook also catching fireworks. This year, it's just the 3 of us dozing off with no fanfare whatsoever.
Not that it means nothing to us, just that the expanding family has brought about different perspectives to both of us. No longer are we thinking only for ourselves, we've got Izza around to keep us in check. Not that she scolds us or anything, I'll spank her if she does, just that her mere presence reminds us constantly of the things that are more important.
Some of my friends have started their A-Z of their hopes for 2008 after my last post which included an A-Z of my previous year. That's great for them, I just hope that now they have it in words, they would work harder and not forget what they have hoped and aimed for. I don't think it'd be a problem for them though seeing how they review almost every action they take.
Which is the reason why I don't put down my hopes and dreams in ink somewhere. For me, my hopes and dreams are fluid. They are not cast in stone or ink. I mean, at a certain point in time, I may have an affinity towards something but over the course of the year, that affinity may change. While it's good to have something to work towards through the year, it may be a burden as we get closer to the end of the year.
Having set a target at the start of the year, we'd be forced to review those targets at the end of the year and, inevitably, we end up focusing on the failures, trying to disect it, understand what went wrong and try to make good the following year. Thus, instead of focusing on our achievements and important milestones, we peg ourselves back to review the what-ifs, what-nots and what could or should have been.
I've had enough of having to work towards a set target in the office that I do not want to live my personal life the same way I live my professional life. For me, life is too precious and fragile to be judged by the failures of the lofty targets we may have set for ourselves and certainly not worth the heartache of reviewing the failures of what we did not achieve compared to what we did achieved. Between having to disect my failure to lose weight and to see Izza gain weight or reach a certain height, I'd choose the latter anytime.
I'd rather see myself as a success over the year by focusing on the achievements of me and my family than to see myself as an abject failure by poring over the variables which contributed to the failures. At the end of the day, it's how you want to see yourself in the mirror......
