The New Year looms, and with it, the age-old tradition of resolutions. Lists written in neat columns, stuck on mirrors and desks—constant reminders of promises to a future self. A self so far removed from today that it feels almost fictional. But I wonder: if the motivation burns so brightly, why the need for reminders?
Hunger doesn’t need a sticky note. When it strikes, you eat. When the soul craves, it acts. Yet, like preparing a meal for an appetite you haven’t yet felt, resolutions ask us to predict tomorrow’s hunger. To pour time and energy into a future we cannot guarantee.
And what if that hunger never comes? What if life, with all its spontaneity, serves an unexpected feast instead? The meal you so carefully prepared becomes yesterday’s burden, stored away for later, cold and unappetizing.
Life doesn’t wait for January 1st. It doesn’t pause for lists or perfect beginnings. It moves, unyielding, in the present moment—the now. To procrastinate change to a symbolic date is to gamble with time we may not have.
So, why wait? Begin now. Plan for now. This moment, fleeting and fragile, is the only certainty we possess. Pour your heart and effort into the present, no matter the constraints, no matter the odds.
For in the end, joy isn’t found in the perfect plan. It’s found in the courage to live now, fully, without hesitation.
About Natasha Singh
Mother, MBA and a constant learner of life.