Home - Columns - Perspective - Any day is a good day to start
Any day is a good day to start
by Dunstan Chan. Posted on January 8, 2012, Sunday
“WOW! It was as if it was only yesterday that we stayed up to take part in the countdown to 2012. Now one week of the 52 brand new weeks is gone and I haven’t started on my New Year’s resolutions yet,” wrote a blogger, almost in anguish.
Apart from the fact that most of us are like old diesel engines – take a while to get started – I am afraid my blogger friend has another excuse to procrastinate. It is in the form of something red and noisy, and this year it is coming early. I am talking about the Chinese New Year and it is just over two weeks away. As always, it is preceded by its faithful companion, the ‘after CNY’ syndrome. If you don’t know what ‘after CNY syndrome’ is, just wait another week and you will experience it.
Once I took my watch to a repair shop. The man said, “It would not be in time.” (I am sure the pun was not intended)
“In time for what?” said I, nonplussed. Chinese New Year,” he said, giving me a puzzled look. I could almost hear the inaudible: “Duh!”
It’s the same with trying to get someone to do chores – like getting the gate painted, the fridge repaired, or the photos developed – always the standard “after CNY” reply.
Why, even my dentist was in that spirit, the spirit of deferring to after the Chinese New Year.
“Can you stand the pain?” asked the nurse.
No, it is not painful.” I almost wanted to add the word ‘yet’. “I just want to have my fillings checked.”
Then it has to be after the Chinese New Year,” was the curt reply.
So, for those of us whose ambition is bigger than the strength of our willpower, don’t despair. We have another two weeks to indulge in our old habits. The Chinese New Year is an auspicious time to start something new.
But seriously, what is this human tendency to look for the right date when we want to start something new?
Well, for one thing, to start on a new venture, to chart a new course is a fearful thing. The new course may be as mundane as trying to regain one’s once trimmed figure or something as adventurous as setting up a new business. In either case, it demands a change of behaviour and habits, in other words, to leave the familiar and to take the uncharted path. Let’s face it. The familiar is easy; the uncharted path is lined with uncertainties. we need all the help we can muster. We need to gear ourselves up psychologically to take the bold step.
The idea of having an auspicious date to launch our ship into a new ocean, to start a new chapter in our life is comforting. Nothing is as auspicious as a new year.
However, if the general comments floating about concerning New Year fs resolutions is anything to go by, it seems most resolutions bite the dust before the month is out.
But don’t get too despondent if weeks are whizzing by and you have not got off the starting blocks yet. As someone post on a social network, “Funny how people look for a fresh start in the New Year but the truth is it’s just an excuse. You can start fresh and set goals any day of the year.”
START NOW: Any day is a good day to start and it is never too late.
So, if you really want to start anew, any day is a good day to commence. And if you do fail to make good your resolution the first time, or the second time, or the umpteenth time, do not be disheartened. It is never too late.
In June last year, one John North, aged 93, became the oldest student in Britain to be awarded a doctorate in philosophy. He graduated with a PhD at Queen Mary College, University of London. He started studying in his sixties (presumably after his retirement) through evening classes.
So, we don’t have to wait for an appropriate day to start. Any day is a good day to start and it is never too late.
