Tim Tan Huynh

New year, new me?

  • 21 Jan 2015
  • "This year will be different," says everyone.

Another arbitrary checkpoint for recording time, another set of resolutions abandoned by February. I wanted to write a post, three weeks ago, promising to write every day; better late than never, I suppose.

Why does it take a new year, whether solar, lunar, Chinese, Hebrew, or whatever, for us to really think about our individual pasts and futures? Maybe it’s the idea of a clean slate that gives us hope, however false or fleeting. Or maybe it’s the practical and persistent reminder that we’re a little bit closer to our deaths, and this reminder scares us into trying to improve our selves and our lives.

I think most people are nowhere close to doing what or being who they really want. I know that I wish my life had turned out differently in some ways. On the other hand, I am definitely in a better position now compared to one year ago, ie before the Earth had started its most recent circular rotation around the Sun. Everybody has a finite amount of time in this life and world; we just don’t think about it in our daily lives.

I’m not a Nickleback fan, but I’ve always liked this decade-old video.

I don’t have a countdown timer floating above my head (if I do, I can’t see it), but statistically, I can expect to live for another four to five decades, ie 40 to 50 circular rotations of the Earth around the Sun. All I know for sure is that I will write something, anything, every day.