Sunday, December 31st 2023
2024 - Out with the old, in with the new.
Every January 1st is the first page of a new chapter in the same book - the book of our lives.
The truth is, tomorrow is just another day, another Monday that holds no extra weight in the grand scheme of things but therein lays its power, its uniqueness.There will never, ever, be another Monday, January 1st 2024 and so whatever you make of it, will be exactly what it is - nothing more, nothing less. We get to give the days meaning.
In 2023, I thought a lot about change. About how trees shed their leaves every single autumn, letting go of the old in order to survive the environment and create room for the birth of the new come spring. In a similar vein, I’ve had to, and continue to, learn to let go of what no longer serves me purposefully. Make room for what is here, for what is to come. The post-Covid19 years have felt like a mini decade, a lot has changed yet so much seems to have stayed the same. There are currently two major conflicts which are front of mind in popular discourse - Russia/Ukraine and Israel/Palestine. Human beings continue to show a remarkable thirst for violence, unable to generate the funds and execute on the solutions that will solve humanity's most dire problems but maintaining a never ending capital pipeline that fuels wars around the world. Problems require significant enough incentives in order to be fixed. Economies are wobbling, major economic and financial voices seem unsure of what side the coin will fall on and are approaching the coming months with caution until the fog fades away. Those with clearer convictions right now would do well to put their money where their mouths are. The technological changes sweeping through our societies will alter life as we know it forever and yet many of us are hardly aware of the significant effect these changes will have on multiple, if not every, aspect of our lives. There is a dizzying amount of changes going on around us at any given moment, stay on your toes and stay alert. All this being said, it’s important to remember that there’s nothing new under the sun, change like death and taxes is part of a small group of things you can always say for sure will occur during one's lifetime. The quicker you learn to adapt to it, the better.
This world we live in, the lives we lead, are filled with uncertainties, factors that we can’t always accurately assess but yet, decisions still need to be made. For what is life if not a continuous string of conscious and subconscious choices, the point where cause and effect perpetually meet. This year, a choice I’m seeking to repeatedly make to the point it becomes second nature to me is “to do, and do excellently”. Excellence is always clear and hardly ever a fluke. It requires hard work, commitment and diligence. I urge whoever reads this to also take up this challenge, to commit to excellence and watch the marvel that unfolds.
Every year is an opportunity for rebirth, but so is every day too.
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Bolawa A. Tejuoso