January 2007 has gone us by like the wind. Since I reached the 2.5 decade age, I don’t really remember my passing months and year. I don’t recall having met any of my New Year Resolution list. Did you meet yours last year?

Every year, I make a virtual list in my head. Must do this, must complete that, etc. I have aspire to climb Mt. Kinabalu – this was in my year 2003 New Year Resolution list. This item was seen repeated in my virtual list for 3 years. The closest I was, was having spent a vacation at the foot of Mt. Kinabalu. I guess, I was almost there.

I don’t have a list for year 2007. Why ?

Here’s why:

If you give up hope, you will likely find your life is infinitely richer. Here’s why: When you live in hope, it’s usually because you’re avoiding reality. If you hope your partner will stop drinking, aren’t you really afraid he or she won’t? Aren’t you really afraid to take decisive action to change the situation? If you keep hoping the drinking will stop, you get to avoid the truly hard work of actually handling the situation effectively. Hope becomes a drug or soporific to get you through the pain a little longer. Like all drugs, it comes with side effects. One of the main side effects is that you become a little numb, a little less alive. Hoping a situation will change keeps you a distance from your true feelings – sadness, anger, fear. Each of these feelings is best appreciated up close. Feel them deeply, and they will cease to bother you. Hope they’ll go away, and they’ll bother you all day.

The above was my moment of enlightenment with Gay Hendricks, an extract from 365 Nirvana – Jack of All Trades.

I realised, that all my New Year Resolution lists has been of “Hopes”. I hope I’ll be able to climb Mt. Kinabalu this year. I hope I’ll find a better job with more pay and benefits. How often have you hoped for a better year at the beginning of every new year ? The dull fact is, I believe we are living in a lie when we make New Year Resolution list. As such, I scraped off my virtual list for year 2007. I will not even bother thinking of climbing the mountain. It’s time for me to live in reality.