A New Year, a New Beginning, and a New Season of Hope...

Ashley D. Mwanza

Sunrise Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe

ARE you facing the new year with a sense of hope? Or are you left asking, “Is this all there is?” If you are feeling down, or even just a bit unsettled, perhaps it's time to take a closer look at your prospects. Examining our disappointments can guide us to a new appreciation of what we have as well as help us to chart where we want to be. Maybe we have simply failed to catch up with the fast changing world, if so, then I suggest you take time to read ‘Changing the way we change: Catching up with our metamorphosing world.’ Barack Obama mentioned in his inaugural speech that the world is changing and we ought to change with it, this adds to J. F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech when he stated that the world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. So ask yourself a question, are you here to build or destroy?

The year is coming to an end and that is a challenge to each and every one of us, where did we mess up, what did we fail to do and what are we aiming to improve or what new thing/s are we hoping to try out. The list is endless. The start of a new year brings with it the hope that things will be different, whoever thought that Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai would be in the same government? But, of course, things won't be different unless we resolve to make them different.

The fireworks will come, they will rain and explode across the sky, then what? You sit around talking and New Year’s resolutions come up. “Yes, this year is going to be different!”. You feel enthusiastic, but how is it going to be different? Fast-forward to the middle of January. The weather’s dreary, well at least here in Ireland. Enthusiasm has waned, dabbling has ensued. Maybe the resolution is abandoned altogether. How do you keep yourself from reaching that point? How do actually stick with your New Year’s resolution? Well, in the end it’s up to you and I don’t have a solid plan that will work for you.

If you are faithful in small things you will be so in big things, start simple. If you do make a New Year resolution about some aspect of your life, keep it simple and clear. A set of complicated or complex goals for the year will, in my experience, have little chance of success. Make only a few or even one clear goal that both you and the people around you will understand. When you get up each morning those goals should be etched in your mind. If those goals are clear and simple they will have a much better chance of getting into your gut and, ultimately, being achieved. So, go ahead and make New Year resolutions for your life, but don't set yourself up for failure by making the goals too optimistic or complex. Be like the archer who must shoot his or her arrow at one target - the bull's-eye.

Living an outstanding life is apparently not going to be as easy as we may want it to be. We have to start ‘Changing the way we change.’ In fact, it is often not easy to become the person we want to be. Just because it is not easy does not mean we each should not make our best effort. As I have said time and time again in my previous articles, life is not difficult but at the same time it is not easy, if we say life is difficult we will have ultimately drawn a line between what can be done and what cannot be done, but we are more optimistic when we say life is not easy because there is room left for trying.

Paraphrasing Mahatma Gandhi, you must be the change you want to see in your world and I elaborated this in the article ‘We ought to be the change in the world.’ We spend a lot of time asking and waiting for our fellow citizens to change so our world will be better. If, we take responsibility for making our lives look the way we want them to, then we have to look only to ourselves for our own happiness and hitherto a better world. Believe it or not, when we take it upon ourselves to behave in an outstanding fashion toward others we increase the chance they will return positive with positive, no man is an island as I specified in ‘Changing the way we change: We ought to, together is better.’ Think of the last time you smiled at someone first. More than likely they returned that smile. In addition, they probably passed it on to someone else. Your behaviour is like that smile. By being the person you want to be, regardless of what your fellow citizens are doing, you can change your future and that of the world, there is one woman I know who has defied all odds and she is truly a woman on a mission, the lady is none other than Tendai Madondo. When you change your expectations to reflect what is within your own ability to do, chances are you won't be disappointed in the outcome and more so you will inspire others to do great things.

Yes, we will come against mammoth tasks but may they too must not capitulate us, have a read of my note ‘Patiently Persevere!’ The message is a simple one, not an easy one. Depending on ourselves for our own happiness means looking deep into our hearts and deciding what's important. It also means taking responsibility for making our lives look like we want them to look. It's about setting the stage appropriately so our expectations can be met. If you are not doing that already, or want to do it better, keep reading. I will be offering some possibilities on how to make this happen in the New Year.

Keep in mind, however, while there are many self-stopped seekers, generally the most successful people on the paths of enlightenment are those who doubt most sincerely. They are motivated to go forward in an effort to solve their doubts through verifiable experience. Experience is a great teacher.Remember also, it is good to doubt early on your path. Naive acceptance doesn't do anyone a favour. Naiveté is a form of ignorance, which eliminates a maturing process which is so necessary. Early in your journey develop the habit of paying attention to your doubts, whether they are mental, emotional, or intuitional. Face them. While maintaining your forward momentum, give them a chance to be resolved through your experience and your research. Be honest with them. Your doubts may well be genuine concerns from deep within you.Your doubts may be your greatest assets along with your aspiration and sincerity. If you face your doubts and deal with them constructively, you will see the glowing dawn of super-consciousness soon.

As I mentioned in ‘We ought to be the change in the world.’ All of us want a better world, so why not take the initiative to do our bit for a worthy cause ? Let us all get over the habit of complaining and blaming. Let us shake ourselves out of indifference. Let us break the silence and take a stand. Let us “Be the Change!” enough of this attitude of taking the spectators’ seats, we should be the ‘directors’. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Let us take that step and start the journey towards a better world. There may come a time when the initial enthusiasm has waned and your motivation is running low. Then you need to just do it. Meaning: try not to be so wrapped up in your thoughts and emotions. They are just things running through your consciousness. They are not you. They have a tendency of putting up obstacles – almost always imaginary ones too – on your path. Don’t pay much attention to those roadblocks. Just ignore them and plough through. Even if your mind and feelings are disagreeing with your resolution just go and do it anyway. Obstacles and roadblocks are part of life, but they should never hold us back, rather they should embolden us as I stated in the article ‘We must be broken down to be recreated.’

It is resolve that one needs in order to achieve one’s goals. I think the ability to focus on the goal and the benefits of achieving it are amongst the most important requirements to maintain resolve. If you ask world-class musicians or athletes, they will almost always say this, “When I say focus, I mean FOCUS.” Not everyone can do this well (it takes practice), and probably no one will do it without a reason. Understand how everything you do is helping you get towards that goal and visualise (pre-experience) what it will be like when you get there.

In a team setting, which we all invariably find ourselves in since we are all inhabitants of this beautiful world, everyone has to buy-in to the goal and the benefits. So, you probably need to get them involved early on in designing the outcome and the path to get there. The best way to do this is to take a leaf out of Socrates’ book, not that I’m saying you should all become philosophers, but this will help to – derive the problem, and potential solutions, and set a program together. Actually, if you do this, you may well come up with a better goal and path to get there than if you had designed it by yourself. Paraphrasing from ‘Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You’ speech by John F. Kennedy: Fellow citizens of the world, ask not what the world can do for you but what together we can do for the world. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

May you all have a happy 2010. Tatenda, Siyabonga, Thank You...