EDITORIAL - Focus on lifestyle changes

 

Happy new year was chanted all around the globe just a few days ago, and we once more get to make new resolutions for this year in the hopes of effecting change in our lives. Another year has come and gone and we look forward to another 12 months of our lives,  the chance to do it all over again…or do we? 
 
When taking a look at centuries past, one of the greatest inventions as well as one that provides the greatest illusion of security is time. Yes, indeed, time was invented. Today, we live our lives by the clock – the swing of the minute hand or the pendulum controls every aspect of our lives. That midday work deadline, the 1 pm lunch date and that 5 am flight to London. Time dictates our every step. 
 
What is interesting to note though, is that technically, time does not really exist. It is just a construct by scientists that help us to make sense of the past, present and future. Time really is never ending, therefore meaning that it doesn’t have a beginning or end, neither does it restart magically at the end of every year. What we as human beings do is measure the time span in between events. Thus giving us seconds, minutes and hours, days, months and years. This is the means by which we control our lives.  
 
Time being what it is or what it isn’t, we need to ask ourselves if the so called beginning of a new year is indeed a clean slate by which we get to live a 12-month chunk of our lives again, or if nothing really has changed.  People make resolutions at the start of every year, but what we need to do is rather than making promises to ourselves every year, which we struggle to keep and then discard, for we know we get to make them again, we should make lifestyle changes. So that is my challenge to you, to make a lifestyle change, not just a simple resolution. This change is one that we should strive to better as we grow older, it should become part of us. So rather than taking on the Christmas spirit and cheer for just the month of December, why not let that spill over. Let that person we become in December be not for a defined time. We should allow that generosity, kindness and unselfishness to permeate the very fabric of our being and become part of our tapestry.  
 
We also need to realise that the problems we had in 2016 will not miraculously disappear; they will still be there. The water woes, sewerage issues and of course the pothole problem. They have not left and will continue to be here until we turn our full attention towards them. What we do need to ensure is that we never lose momentum on these matters. Things tend to get lost in the end of year fog, where ham and turkey become paramount and issues are pushed on the back burner.  For some reason we tend to dull ourselves to certain issues and get caught up in a false sense of security around the end of the year.   
 
Now is time we turn our attention to being better people. Not just for the “new year”, but generally as a people. Therefore, let us strive to make lasting changes. 
 
In Egyptian iconography there is a circular symbol of a serpent with its tail in its mouth called the Ouroboros. This is taken to symbolise introspection, the eternal return of cyclicality as well as representing the infinite cycle of nature’s endless creation and destruction, life and death and despair. We need to start acting as if time is indeed never ending, as if it is infinite. We need to transcend the trappings of simplicity and see beyond what is a human construct. 
 
If we still believe after this that we need to make a new year’s resolution, then let this be it – make lifestyle changes and let them be permanent and not cyclical. Let us never forget that problem solving should be ever constant and not just seasonal. 
 
Up and on Barbados!

Barbados Advocate

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