Welcoming the New Year

Another year went by... with its share of ups & downs.
And it is already 2009 at some parts of the world while I write this, we share messages and wishes for a very 'Happy' New Year...

There was a phase in my life when we partied (read as get drunk...) the whole night, have count downs and even light fire crackers at the middle of the night to welcome the New Year. The New Year never used to be a good start; thanks to the swearing of the neighbors who lost their sleep & worse got startled in the middle of night due to the fire crackers and finally thanks to Bangalore, the long lasting barking of the canines that followed the crackers. That was never a botheration, but celebrate - was the motto.

I have realized that over a period of time, the whole fizz of this celebration with me has gone over, and to my own surprise, I responded to a friend today morning who asked me about my New Year celebration plans, I made this bland statement - "New Year?? Arrgh, just another day. Whats the big deal about that..." And he was taken for surprise to the level of asking me if everything was OK with me.

Sometimes I ask this question to myself - What should I be happy about 2008 that I take into the New Year? Family relations getting staler day by day? Or the credit of 10+ terrorist attacks in my homeland? Or the fear factor that leads to the fact that I regularly get "randomly" selected for additional security screening even at domestic flights in the richest country? Or the fact that we still continue to waste food & other resources where a significant percentage of people in this world does not have access to even clean drinking water? Or even the fact that religious fanatics are showing their thump on the nose to humanity and taking over control of the people by literally running parallel governments?

There is this point of the seeing the glass as half full or half empty based on each one's thought process - whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. But here is my point - Irrespective of whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, the truth is that the glass is only half full where it ought to be really FULL. There are no excuses for having it just half full when we have the calibre to make it really full.

I hope this New Year be a fresh start (as always!) to hold up our values in building humility, resilience and appreciation for what each one of us is and have.

A salute to humanity!

Worries

Read in an email...


We need not worry about those who have come through the boat;
Its hightime we start worrying about those who have come through vote (for note).