It is just another year that whizzed past at what seemed to be at breakneck speed. Days rolled into weeks and months raced towards the end of the year in a bullet train that turned all the memories in my mind into a series of blurred pictures. The year 2011 went so fast that now I wonder if I learned anything.
Did I make new friends? Certainly, I did. But not memorable ones because they melted away in just weeks to go back to the same old faces that I knew for years. Did I do anything exciting? I travelled a few times, but I am past getting a tingle that would rev up some excitement when I see new people or surroundings. Mind you, I am not saying that I have now become numb. However, I have reached a stage in my life that a new year is nothing but a change of calendar.
I look back at 2011 the way I reflected on the year before that. I still have to earn a living and my children are still demanding my attention to make me wonder if being a father is an obligation, rather than a biological connection.
In 2012, I would still need my bowl of cereals floating in full cream milk for breakfast and a plate of rice for lunch. I would still take a walk on the beach and get nervous when mad drivers threaten to push me off the roads. My routine, perhaps, would never change because I am not sure I have the courage to change anything in my life, though at times, I wonder what would happen if I tweak a few things. Perhaps, I should add some excitements in my life in 2012 to see if I am suited to living dangerously. I am not talking about bungee jumping or dropping from the aircraft, but doing something at a drop of the hat.
I might drive in my old four-wheel drive and head West to the desert with just a tent, a few tins of food, water and camp under the stars all alone. Perhaps, the swish of the wind as it lifts up the sands would be exciting enough or watching the scorpions creating winding tracks, as they scamper for cover under the thorny trees would mesmerise me. I might even buy a boat this year and sail away in the Arabian Sea hoping that the rough weather would briefly spice up my life. On the other hand, I would just sit idly on the roadside and watch people make fools of themselves as they try to impress one another. I don’t know! But certainly, one thing we all need to watch, as the months speed towards 2013, we lose none of our sanity.
We don’t lose our grace of stretching a helping hand, though it might be limp at times or lend a sympathetic ear when one’s troubles hit the roof. These things come free and are received gratefully, if we master the technique.
Sometimes, thinking about others takes away a lot of pressure from ourselves. Why? Because we are so busy catering to their needs that we fail noticing the calendar turning pages. Besides, we remind ourselves that we are not the only ones with problems. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention, that, this week, I joined a yoga class for the first time to see what the fuss is all about. The graceful movements and the controlled breathing did remove a lot of anxieties only till a time that I went back to my old habits a couple of days later. Perhaps, I would need to visit my health club next week to get another dose of it. At least now, I would say yoga was the exciting thing that I did in 2012 when finally the year draws its curtains.
The writer is an Oman-based freelance columnist.
Khaleej Times