Another year is coming to an end. While there are signs of regaining a sense of normality, the World is still an elusive place.
Have I become any wiser? If wisdom is learning from other's mistakes, then no, I haven't. I still need to make my own mistakes and drag with me the people who are relying on me.
One thing I'm sure of is that I have become balder. According to my late grandfather, it is a sign of intelligence because my head is growing faster than my hair.
There's no antidote to entropy. Time only flows in one direction. The clock is ticking faster year after year. Anything we push back to tomorrow is a potential future regret. Maybe instead of trying to be wise, I should try to be bold (before I become fully bald)?
I started many things in 2022. How many have I kept doing?
I stopped writing on my blog (you had a blog? Exactly).
I stopped journaling because it felt like a chore.
I stopped podcasting because I didn't "have" time.
I stopped exercising for reasons I can only call lame.
I should probably reduce the number of resolutions I'll set myself for next year.
So what will be the topic for 2023? In a word, presence.
I have always lived in the future rather than the present. Always looking forward to what may rather than enjoying what is. The future holds so many possibilities, and that's what makes it exciting.
But the future doesn't exist. Not yet. Only the present does. If I keep on living in the future, I may never have lived at all.
So for 2023, my personal goal will be to try to live more in the present, and I'm giving myself a few rules to follow.
- Be more present, aware, conscious, and mindful. Live in the now. The future is just dopamine.
- Stop caring about recognition and start caring about others. And your health too.
- Help people. Being helpful is being meaningful.
- Spend money on experiences, not things. Experience more, and more fully.
- Consume less and produce more.
The last few words I want to express before my calendar becomes obsolete are words of gratitude.
If you are reading this message, you have been part of my life in some way, and I want to thank you for being here.
I want to thank my family, my friends, and my colleagues for being a constant source of support and inspiration and for challenging me when I needed to be challenged.
I hope that 2023 will be for you a year of joy, happiness, and love.
Take good care of yourself and the people who are dear to you.
Happy New Year!