We are covering a time distance between the 1st of Jan 2021 to the 31st of December 2021 in between 365 days 52 weeks 12 months have gone by and guess what there are seven billion people on planet earth and all seven billion people on the planet have the exact same number of days in 2021 and every year the time we have is exactly the same. The months we have is exactly the same, the days we have is exactly the same, the weeks we have is exactly the same but the experience each one of us has of this time is entirely different.
2021 for everybody on planet earth, seven billion people has given the exact same treatment in one sense. We had the pandemic! Oh my God and there are so many other things that are happening politically, socially there’s so much going on and more or less it’s similar to all of us but how 2021 has been for each one of us, the experience of the last year for each one of us is entirely different for some of us.
It’s been a fantastic year for some of us, it’s not been such a fantastic year for some of us, it’s been an exciting year for some of us, it’s been not such an exciting year.
Some of us have become more confident in the last 12 months, some of us have become less confident and have lost our confidence.
Some of us have probably made a relationship and are now getting married, some of us probably are breaking apart because the relationship has fallen apart, some of us have worked on our health and have become fitter and healthier, some of us haven’t paid attention to our health and our well-being, probably not doing that well.
Yes, there is an objective element to time.
The objective element of time is fixed for the 7 billion people on planet earth i.e. 12 months 365 days and there’s a subjective side of the time and that is what has been our experience in those 12 months.
We cannot change the 12 months and we cannot change the objective side of time we can definitely change the subjective side of time that is our experience of those 12 months.
Therefore it’s often said that: “Every single day in our bank account in life there are 86400 dollars that are deposited but there’s a condition those 86400 are available only for those 24 hours, one day and after that one day is over those 86400 dollars are nullified. You can’t carry forward those 86400 dollars to the next. You have to use those 86400 in that one day.
Wouldn’t you be prudent, wouldn’t you be cautious, wouldn’t you be careful to make sure that you spend that money properly every single day in your life.
86400 seconds are invested equals 24 hours invested.
Now the question is how do we utilize those 86400 seconds. They’re not going to be carried forward to the next day. One moment lost is lost forever, one dollar in this account lost is lost forever. You cannot bring it back and therefore it is so crucial and so important that we learn to utilize our time properly.
In fact, I prefer not to use the word spend time, I would rather say invest time because when we invest there is a return. When we spend usually we have the connotation that it is gone and therefore it’s important that we invest this 86400 dollars.
We should invest them in our mental well-being to make sure that our mind is focused, our mind is stable, our mind is not depressed, our mind is not negative.
We should invest it in our emotional well-being to make sure that we are investing enough time in our relationships, with people in our relationships, with our family in our relationship, with our friends in our relationship, with ourselves.
We should invest our time in our professional well-being to see that we are doing well professionally every single day. We are a better version of ourselves professionally as well and we should invest our time in our spiritual well-being.
When we invest our time in our spiritual well-being that gives us a holistic sense a complete sense of development and therefore the first principle of reminiscing 2021 and at the end of the day being well is extremely important:
Experiencing a holistic sense of wellness, physically, mentally emotionally, spiritually and professionally.
This is what success is all about dear friends.
The first principle for reminiscing 2021 is to recollect for yourself how did you invest your time well did you invest your 86400 dollars or seconds every day properly, if not no problem at all; there’s always a scope to change, to transform.
Objectively we all have 12 months, subjectively the experience of that 12 months has been different for all of us.
Remember to invest your time properly whether or not we have done it well in 2021. We can always do it properly in the year to come which is 2022.
Here’s the second principle:
In Sanskrit, we have a saying which means “the glance of a lion”. When the Lion walks ahead, what the lion does is occasionally turns behind and gets an estimate of how far it has come from where it started. The Lion turns behind and sees what all were the hurdles, all were the obstacles that it crossed over to come to reach where it is today and it’s incredible the lion looks behind and says okay I reached here and then the lion had its eyes in the front to see where it has to go now.
How much more distance to cover, what are the hurdles to come on the path, what all the line has to overcome to reach where it has to reach.
This principle is such a fantastic thing to apply in human life as well. It’s such a powerful principle that when we are moving on in our life, we need to look back into the past.
The past is not a place of residence, the past is the place of reference, the past is not the place where we should be staying, past is the place where we should be visiting. We have to be a visitor in our past not a resident of the past and when we look into the past we can always look at what went right for us and celebrate those small victories or those big victories.
Like the lion, when it walks ahead and looks back it sees how much distance it has covered, this is how many hurdles it has overcome, these are victories to the lion and there is a celebration.
In the year 2021 when you look behind you may have your small victories or your big victories, you may see that something went right for you, you may see that something went incredibly good for you. For some of you probably your relationship has clicked very well and you’re probably about to get married some of you the bonding of your affection and love for each other in your relationship has gone deeper, for some of you probably made a good profit in the last year but some of you probably got a fantastic job in the last year, for some of you probably cleared your academics and got admission in tops IITs.
It’s incredible to look back and celebrate what went good, what went right and if we learn from what’s went right and what’s going right for us we can always repeat it from now on in the year 2022 as well.
We can improvise it, we can enhance it, we can change the quality of it positively and guess what we only add value to what we are doing and therefore like the lion it’s so important for us to turn behind look back and reminisce again in 2022. It’s only going to add value to what we are doing. There is a celebration but along with the celebration, there must also be deliberation.
What is the deliberation?
The liberation of looking behind in 2021 is what could have gone wrong. Well, we would say what mistakes did I make, what could I have done better to be a better person, what could have done better to be a better husband, a better wife, a better boyfriend, a better girlfriend, a better spouse, a better employer, better businessman, a better friend, a better me.
What could I have done better for making my work better or by making my study better? What could I have done better to keep my mental fitness and my mental wellness in place? What could I have done better to lead a better and happier life?
Yes, a celebration for the victory as the lion comes ahead overcomes so many hurdles to come, where it is along with that celebration there is making a mistake is a part of our nature. Accepting that mistake is a part of an evolved culture and rectifying that mistake is the hope for a promising future.
Yes, like the lion symbol it’s important to look back into 2021 to see what went right, celebrate that and bring it into 2022 in a better way for a better life and reminiscing 2021 means to look back into the past and see what went wrong what could have been done better and work on that and try and redefine, rectify the mistakes that happened in the last year in a way that we can craft and shape a better 2022.
They say the windshield of a car is always much larger than a rearview mirror. In the rearview mirror, you will reminisce and look at 2021, much larger.
The future to come is yours, what is about to come from today on is yours and you are the architect of your life. You’re the architect of your success, you are the architect of your happiness, you are the architect of your relationship, you are the one who is going to make your life, your relationships, your career, your profession the way you want to be.
Nobody else is responsible to make your life, the dream life that you’ve always wanted. You are the one who is responsible and therefore the principle number two is to reflect when you reminisce 2021. Look at what went right, look at what went wrong. Whatever went right, repeat it; whatever went wrong, rectify.
Balance celebration with deliberation. Simply celebrating without deliberation is reckless enjoyment and simply deliberation without celebration is stressful analysis.
We must have a celebration of our victories and deliberations on our failures and the balance of that is what reminiscing 2021 is all about.
Here’s the conclusive and the last principle for reminiscing 2021 and the year to how to enter into 2022 the year to come.
There were five frogs who were sitting on a stone. Four of them decided to jump down. How many remained on the stone?
Most people say they didn’t jump. Deciding to jump and jumping are two different things.
Deciding to change our lives and changing our life are two different things. Deciding to lose weight and actually exercising and controlling our diet to lose weight are two different things.
Deciding to stay stress-free and mentally peaceful and actually cutting down those unnecessary things on social media and unnecessary interactions which cause mental stress are two different things.
Deciding to improve in your career and to actually take those steps by recovery, studying what is required, doing the research what is required, improving your skill to actually change and get better are two different things.
Deciding to improve your relationships and actually improving your relationships by taking those small steps, consistent steps and making that investment in our relationship is two different things.
Deciding to change and changing are two different things.
Step one is to at least decide but step two is to take action to change and transform.
Friends, it’s very crucial and important that we take action. So that those hopes that I’ll change, I’ll transform, I want all of you to identify in this year 2021 as you reminisce 2021.
What went wrong for you, like that Lion looking behind and what are those actionable steps that you’re going to take that you don’t repeat that in 2022, whether it’s your fitness, your spirituality, your relationship, your work, your career, your studies whatever it is!
If you don’t decide to act,2022 is not going to be any different for you from the same 1st of Jan till the 31st of December 365 days will go by.
Objectively the time has gone by and subjectively your experience will still be that of frustration on the 31st of December. Just start the process today. Don’t wait for the 1st of Jan to start your new habit, even if it’s a little bit early you’re already in the process from the first of January.
Therefore identify what it is that you want to change, take the small actionable steps towards that change and take those steps today that is when reminiscing 2021 will be of some value.
Remember these three principles:
1. Time is both subjective and objective. Objectively 7 billion people have the same 365 days but subjectively seven billion people have seven billion experiences of those 365 days and if you want to change your experience, invest the 86400 seconds that you get daily prudently in your well-being. If you invest that time properly that is when your year 2022 will be a fine number.
2. Reflect like that Lion, look back into the past in that rearview mirror know that the windshield is much larger. You must focus on the future but reflect on the past and see what it is that you can learn from the past.
The right things celebrate and repeat the wrong things that may have gone deliberate and rectified.
Last but not the least
3. When four frogs out of the five frogs decide to jump off the rock there’s still five because they only decided they didn’t actually jump. Action is extremely important we have to take the small steps towards a large change and we don’t need to start on the 1st of January 2022. We can start on any day because to start and change your habit we need 21 days to form a habit. So by the time we are on the 1st of January 2022 you would have mastered a new habit. We would be in a better position in a better space to maintain that habit into the year 2022 as well.
I wish all of you all the very best and hopefully, the 1st of Jan 2022 will be a much brighter 2022 for all of us. My prayers, my best wishes are with all of you.
