Tag: year-end

TUESDAY, 29 DECEMBER 2015

Paul Eddington of Yes, Minister fame said the following a few days before his death in 1995: “A journalist once asked me what I would like my epitaph to be and I said I think I would like it to be ‘He did very little harm’. And that’s not easy. Most people seem to me to do a great deal of harm. If I could be remembered as having done very little, that would suit me.”

THURSDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2015

If you ask me on any day what I would like to do the next day, I’ll be able to mention a few things. What I will not say is that I am just going to wake up and wait and see what happens, because I don’t want to plan anything and then it doesn’t work out.

The same thing applies to the last day of an “old” year and the first day of a “new” year. Some people are of the opinion that you shouldn’t have too many plans, or set too many goals or recite too many fixed dates. This is what I think: I am grateful that I am still here, and if I am still here tomorrow, I am not going to waste my time. I will get busy with things that I want to do, and if things don’t work out as I hope between Friday, 1 January 2016 and Saturday, 31 December 2016, I will accept that.

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I am really glad it’s the last day of the year. It gives me an excuse to spend today and tomorrow at home.

(For more than that I’ll have to don a formal hat and honour several conventions. And I might have done so were it not for the sleepiness or boredom I feel coming over me.)

At least half of 2014 was exceptionally nice. I managed to do quite a bit. I am exiting 2014 on a good point. I am therefore entering 2015 on a good point.

I hope at least half of 2015 is as good, or even better than 2014 … or rather, I will do my utmost to make it so.

Hope it’s the same for everyone.

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MONDAY, 30 DECEMBER 2013

There are a few things I started to turn into reality this year. This process must continue in 2014.

In view of the whole humans-are-a-collection-of-atoms-that-constantly-renew story, the following advice: Will and thou shalt become.

TUESDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2013

Instinct – or desire – always want to compel you to psyche yourself up on this last day of another year. You imagine everything is going to start moving faster soon. Dreams will become a reality within the next couple of weeks. By the end of February … then, by the end of March …

One piece of advice: Accept the possibility that it may take you several more months to master a few things, and to make all those decisions that are part of what will eventually be a successful business.

* * *

Usually, at this time of the year (23:36), I can’t wait for the formalities to pass so that I can continue my work. That is also the case at this moment.

2011 was a good year.

2012 was a good year.

2013 was also a good year – and I’m not just saying that to not hurt the year’s feelings!

I am definitely exiting this year in better shape than I came into it. I visited my family in South Africa. I published more of my writing. And I worked hard to make more money. On the other hand, I didn’t spend a lot of time improving my Chinese. I didn’t do a lot of exercise other than pedalling around on my bicycle. I also didn’t lose much weight, although I didn’t add much either. Overall, though, I am happy with what I did in 2013.

* * *

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

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I was somewhat shocked when I was reminded yesterday that we are going to a New Year’s Eve party tonight, with the implication that tomorrow is the start of a new year.

If I say I don’t want this year to end, I don’t mean that I want to hold on to what is over and done with. What I want is to get up tomorrow morning – the first day of 2013 – and seamlessly continue with everything I’ve been doing this year.

I don’t want to stop and then start again. I want to continue.

* * *

Today is as good a day as any other to tap value from the advice of Mary Schmich: “Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.”

That being said, you are still to a large extent responsible for the huge amount of success and happiness that is coming your way in 2013. And since this is how it is, make sure you do what you can to make it so.

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Text from the Mary Schmich article, “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young” was used by Baz Luhrmann in his 1999 song, “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”. The original article is in turn similar to the 1927 poem by Max Ehrmann (1872-1945), entitled “Desiderata”. A short excerpt: “With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”

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The last day of the year is like the last waking hour of the day: Some people suffer from mild shock and disappointment that it’s over, that what you couldn’t get done today would have to wait for tomorrow.

In a few hours, 2011 will be over.

This has been a good year – a special year. The relationship between Natasja and I was of such a nature from the start that we didn’t need a document to know we belong together. Nevertheless, last month, after almost seven years together, we officially and legally swore love and allegiance to each other. On the working front, I focused mainly on two commercial projects. And in February, I once again started spending the best hours of my days on my writing projects – something that has since become an almost daily reality. Lastly, I spent some serious time over the last twelve months with a dentist named Harmony, with the happy result that I can once again eat properly.

From the position in which I find myself at this moment, because of what I have done between Saturday, 1 January and today, Saturday, 31 December, 2012 appears as if it might just be another good year.

A note from Tuesday, 4 January 2011 might be fitting at this point: “A year in one’s life is like a child. You can plan, you can prepare, and you can have high expectations. But ultimately, the child must be allowed to go its own way, to develop its own character. You can, and should, provide guidance, but in the end you have to make your peace: Do your absolute best, and trust for the rest.”

May 2012 be a good year for myself, for my beloved, and for all our friends and family. And may it be a good year for all the good people on this planet who hope and strive for a better day, every day of their lives.

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