All
resolutions are meant to be broken – sooner or later. We make resolutions for
those things we are not sure of. Deep down, we are not yet convinced about
them. Driven by mere intellectual understanding of their benefits or some peer
pressure, we resolve to do them. It is like forcing the mind to do something it
doesn’t want to do. Who wants to get-up early and go for a jog? But, we make
resolution to do it. And, we make it on a New Year day, so that we do not easily
forget. However, it is only a question of time before the mind wins over our
resolution and goes back to living its old habits. Ask any smoker or an
alcoholic if their resolution to quit has ever worked.
The word ‘resolution’ itself has originated from
the Latin root ‘solv’ or ‘solut’ – both meaning ‘to loosen or untie’. It was
never meant to force an action upon oneself. Anything forced is not forceful.
Sooner or later, one gets tired of such forced action and discards it. Also,
having failed to keep one’s resolution, one suffers from a feeling of guilt. A
better approach would be to develop deeper understanding of an action’s merits
through study, discussion and contemplation.
Life itself drives home such lessons through its knocks and shocks. People often
quit smoking after having diagnosed with cancer. As the understanding gets
deeper, the change becomes natural and permanent. Do we make any resolution to
breathe? If I ever have to make any resolution, it would be: “I shall never
make any resolution.”
