Once again, a new year has dawned upon us. It’s like deja vu. Are we on crack or is god playing a trick on us? But this year is going to be different; change is here and it’s here to stay. Right? If you think the contrary then you are a pessimist and should be burned at the stake. Surely by now, we are seasoned and coming of age. How can we not be? For example, I’ve existed on planet earth for over 24 years now. What excuse do I have? Hurray! We are all going to become millionaires and end poverty simultaneously except for people born in the year of the Ox; 2009 is the Year of the Ox in the Chinese Zodiac (No wonder last year, the year of the Rat, wasn’t as fantastic as expected for those of us born in 1984 and those born every 12 years before and after 1984). Empirically (according to the Chinese ancestors and gods), if the current year is the same year (on the Chinese calendar) as the year that you were born on, you are in for some double trouble bad luck doomsday. Boo-hoo. So basically we were guided to get shitfaced constantly in 2008; I guess I can say I tried to do my part of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Moo Moo? Comprehendo? Do you know what sound Oxen make? Do you know the difference between an ox and a cow? Yes, an ox is a castrated enslaved cow. Great Story. Moving back to my original theme and speaking for us non-oxen, this year, we will embrace our values, wear our hearts on our sleeves, streamline our ambitious career paths and indulge ourselves in optimistic bliss. How does that sound?
Even without the introspection of a clairvoyant 1 year old toddler sucking on mommy’s breasts, we duly anticipate in coming weeks the natural dissemination of “new” news: flurries of New Year’s resolutions being carefully manifested in some mental, verbal, or written shape or form. Perhaps they are simply resolutions blindly regurgitated or recycled from the previous year or the year before. Kudos, I am wildly curious and ecstatic to hear about the new hope & changes that everyone expects to magically occur upon themselves or the world in the next 365 days only to be "marginally" discouraged and deeply surprised when expectations aren’t quite realized at the turn of 2009. Deceiving, but sensible, the flourish of new years resolutions’ spread contagiously like cooties do in a wild and underaged, spin-the-bottle pajama party in some basement. Wait, let me see, I am suddenly inspired to take control of my life which basically means: 1. end poverty 2. become a millionaire 3. look like pitt/jolie 4. “find” or “make” love 5. re-ignite lost friendships/familial relations 6. Become a Rapper. While naturally I am neutral as I see the glass as half full and half empty from time to time, which I actually believe is the sane perspective to have, I hope for us that by learning from our prior faults, we are becoming smart enough to somewhat understand that “change” only occurs when our daily habits evolve and our “resolutions” are realistically manufactured with a detailed blueprint and a step-by-step how to guide for dummies. So what, I exaggerate a little, but you get my point. Those of us that don't want change should be happy with who they are then. Shoot me if I don’t want more people to be more misguided, discouraged and depressed.
We like to think that some of us are privileged (rich biatch), lucky (right place at the right time), smart (brains), hardworking (slave), rational (making the “right” logical choices), or flat out beautiful (natural or plastic), and these characteristics define and limit our potential as beings. Yes or No? Did you watch Slumdog Millionaire? What about that? Don’t laugh, it was a true story… So what if it wasn’t true… who cares if it was true or not? At some point do we really have to stop complaining about why this or that hasn’t worked or why we are shit out of luck because of blah blah and stop sitting on our butts just dreaming about possibilities that we can only fathom when unconscious. I am no einstien, but how about rather than dream big, we start to think about dreams as achievable goals? Dreams don’t come true, but goals do (please don’t say it can only happen to Jordan or Obama or any one successful). When a dream is reinterpreted as a goal, it effectively comes true almost..maybe if you put a little effort? A little sugar and spice? and a lil' luck? We live only live on earth, not mars. Although, once in a while, we would all like to live on mars.
Happy New Year everyone, and for 2009 I hope that we can all put sometime and effort into planning our resolutions before we casually dish them out like KFC flyers: setting reasonable (lofty or not) expectations for ourselves and understanding the consequences of not achieving them. All these self-proclaimed gurus pitch all this BS about how to get rich by doing nothing, how to lose weight in 2 days, how to make friends or network while vaporizing your enemies, or how to get a better job. Suddenly these “gurus” are shockingly saviors and selling books/cds/movies by the dozen. To their credit, some of them actually make sense. The self-help industry is booming, especially during now in a time of crisis. Additionally, low confidence and low-morale permeate our times leading us to resort to our respective religious or secular faiths. However, other people's faiths (dreams, resolutions, as you like) are being taken advantage of unknowingly; we do live in a capitalist society. In one practical view, resolutions are self-fulfilling expectations defined by specific goals with day to day objectives not to be taken lightly for the fainted heart. Perhaps rather than What, we should be thinking about How it fits in our schedule and How to follow what we want religiously like radical extremists every morning when our eyes open to a new existence. In my most modest and empathetic state, I wish everyone the best and hope our economic, political, and social calamities come to a screeching halt ASAP! Hopefully, we can all be more happy and more fun in 2010. Hm.. let me see, obviously my New Year's resolution is to be more happy and more fun (I won't tell u my secret recipe though).... and if Genie gave me any one wish, I would wish that I could fly (not end poverty) in a heartbeat. No Joke. Maybe Adam Smith was a little right about me.
Even without the introspection of a clairvoyant 1 year old toddler sucking on mommy’s breasts, we duly anticipate in coming weeks the natural dissemination of “new” news: flurries of New Year’s resolutions being carefully manifested in some mental, verbal, or written shape or form. Perhaps they are simply resolutions blindly regurgitated or recycled from the previous year or the year before. Kudos, I am wildly curious and ecstatic to hear about the new hope & changes that everyone expects to magically occur upon themselves or the world in the next 365 days only to be "marginally" discouraged and deeply surprised when expectations aren’t quite realized at the turn of 2009. Deceiving, but sensible, the flourish of new years resolutions’ spread contagiously like cooties do in a wild and underaged, spin-the-bottle pajama party in some basement. Wait, let me see, I am suddenly inspired to take control of my life which basically means: 1. end poverty 2. become a millionaire 3. look like pitt/jolie 4. “find” or “make” love 5. re-ignite lost friendships/familial relations 6. Become a Rapper. While naturally I am neutral as I see the glass as half full and half empty from time to time, which I actually believe is the sane perspective to have, I hope for us that by learning from our prior faults, we are becoming smart enough to somewhat understand that “change” only occurs when our daily habits evolve and our “resolutions” are realistically manufactured with a detailed blueprint and a step-by-step how to guide for dummies. So what, I exaggerate a little, but you get my point. Those of us that don't want change should be happy with who they are then. Shoot me if I don’t want more people to be more misguided, discouraged and depressed.
We like to think that some of us are privileged (rich biatch), lucky (right place at the right time), smart (brains), hardworking (slave), rational (making the “right” logical choices), or flat out beautiful (natural or plastic), and these characteristics define and limit our potential as beings. Yes or No? Did you watch Slumdog Millionaire? What about that? Don’t laugh, it was a true story… So what if it wasn’t true… who cares if it was true or not? At some point do we really have to stop complaining about why this or that hasn’t worked or why we are shit out of luck because of blah blah and stop sitting on our butts just dreaming about possibilities that we can only fathom when unconscious. I am no einstien, but how about rather than dream big, we start to think about dreams as achievable goals? Dreams don’t come true, but goals do (please don’t say it can only happen to Jordan or Obama or any one successful). When a dream is reinterpreted as a goal, it effectively comes true almost..maybe if you put a little effort? A little sugar and spice? and a lil' luck? We live only live on earth, not mars. Although, once in a while, we would all like to live on mars.
Happy New Year everyone, and for 2009 I hope that we can all put sometime and effort into planning our resolutions before we casually dish them out like KFC flyers: setting reasonable (lofty or not) expectations for ourselves and understanding the consequences of not achieving them. All these self-proclaimed gurus pitch all this BS about how to get rich by doing nothing, how to lose weight in 2 days, how to make friends or network while vaporizing your enemies, or how to get a better job. Suddenly these “gurus” are shockingly saviors and selling books/cds/movies by the dozen. To their credit, some of them actually make sense. The self-help industry is booming, especially during now in a time of crisis. Additionally, low confidence and low-morale permeate our times leading us to resort to our respective religious or secular faiths. However, other people's faiths (dreams, resolutions, as you like) are being taken advantage of unknowingly; we do live in a capitalist society. In one practical view, resolutions are self-fulfilling expectations defined by specific goals with day to day objectives not to be taken lightly for the fainted heart. Perhaps rather than What, we should be thinking about How it fits in our schedule and How to follow what we want religiously like radical extremists every morning when our eyes open to a new existence. In my most modest and empathetic state, I wish everyone the best and hope our economic, political, and social calamities come to a screeching halt ASAP! Hopefully, we can all be more happy and more fun in 2010. Hm.. let me see, obviously my New Year's resolution is to be more happy and more fun (I won't tell u my secret recipe though).... and if Genie gave me any one wish, I would wish that I could fly (not end poverty) in a heartbeat. No Joke. Maybe Adam Smith was a little right about me.
