Ring out the Old, Ring in the New: How My 2025 Will Get Its Colour
How can I describe the year 2024? I'm not sure there's an adjective to qualify how my 2024 went. In retrospect, I realise it is not the year I cried the most, that's 2021; it is not the year I cried the second most, 2020 is long gone, maybe third or fourth, but who cares? I pulled through, guys! A Yoruba proverb says, “there's nothing coming from the sky that the ground will not contain.” So, I believe there is nothing I cannot surmount. For this, I give thanks to God “who has caused me to triumph.”
Did I laugh the most in 2024? Maybe but I sure had many happy moments. See, the staff lounge at work is always filled with warmth and humour. At home, the sweet disturbances of my niblings remind me that life does not have to be strict or overly serious just because I'm getting old😂. In church, the response I get from the speaker when my fingers caress those white and black keys dispels negative thoughts hanging in the dark corners of my mind. And there's the amazing people I met here! Life is tough, but also life is beautiful! So you see, 2024 was not a bad year for me after all.
I'm happy!
Is there anything I would want to do differently in 2025? Let's see!
I spent a lot of time worrying about things in 2024. Mostly things that were beyond my control. Come 2025, I will not worry over anything I cannot change. Imagine worrying over the crops I laboured over in the farm just because it hadn't rained for a few days! What did my worry change? Nothing. The rains still didn't fall as expected but we had our harvest. It was beyond our expectations!
The Farm. The green is mesmerising so I took a picture.
Verdict: In 2025, I will not worry over anything. I will do what I can do and leave the rest. For God.
This year, did I spend much time with the people I love? No. Not as much as I wanted. But can I do better? Of course, yes! My excuse has always been work. But I'm free most Sundays. So, this coming year, Sundays are for visiting. I may feel fatigued from the week's ups and downs, but I can take a nap at loved ones’ homes. It will not be said that I was distant in 2025.
In William Shakespeare's Merchants of Venice, when Shylock begged to be shown mercy after being trapped by the young judge Balthazar (that's actually Portia), he was reminded that he didn't show mercy when he insisted on cutting a pound of Antonio's flesh for failing to pay up his bond before it was due. Lesson: Do not expect grace where you've extended none. Therefore, in 2025, I will be the kindness I want to see. Because I want to be happy, I'll deliberately make others happy.
Here's to an amazing 2025!
PS: The title of this piece comes from a verse in, Alfred Lord Tennyson, my favourite poet's poem "In Memoriam".