It’s a New Year, Happy New Year from mine and mine.

I reckon the most important tradition that comes with the beginning of a new year is having a new years resolution. Recently a friend of mine came up to me and asked me the question “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” this sent me on a journey of reminiscence; remembering my past resolutions.

2016: listen to your creativity (Among others)

2017: Become less self critical (Among others)

2018: Just breathe (Among others)

2019: … (Among others)

To be completely frank, I never did achieve any of those.

Though I only smiled in response, here lies my true answer.

As Humans, we all make an effort to better ourselves and every year, once the clock hits 00:00 a.m. on 1st Jan..We are provided a chance to redeem ourselves whilst carrying the flaws of the previous year.

It’s like one of those mobile games with limited moves; you die, an ad shows up saying ( watch video to get 3 free moves), you watch the ad hence gaining three free moves as a chance to redeem yourself even though you used up most of your previous resources in the previous game. You end up commencing from where you left off; with issues from the previous game weighing you down…That’s just how this life works.

However, we seldom realise this because we’ve been given the chance to do something different. We try to erase our failures from the previous year without a thought, but they’re always lurking, putting a strain on us in the background. When you make a move it becomes a step or two backwards rather than forward and we make more mistakes leaving us unsatisfied with how we’ve played the game for the umpteenth time.

But sometimes we reach some form of Nirvana. We identify all our wrong moves as we go along and understand which moves lead to what we want out of this game and that we must face obstacles that tamper with our progress. When the time comes to redeem ourselves, we have our strategies set and we play the game smart this time. Hence when the year comes to an end we can confidently look back and say we’ve learnt how to prosper in this thing called life.

As much as I think I’ve made sense of the whole New year resolution phenomenon, We’re now in a new decade. I’m not sure what to expect…but I can feel a shift in the air that’s slightly confusing to digest and I’m not sure whether or not it’s going to be amazing or a disaster…I can only hope it’s the former and not the latter.

New year! New me! New year! New me!

I’ve chanted that for as long as I can remember, but 2019 taught me that I cannot strip away all the things that define me in order to create a different Gabrielle, I need to find something else hidden deep within in order to accessorise my personality. Hence, this year – as a result of the wrong moves I made in the previous games – I choose not to abide by a resolution. Instead, I choose to say a prayer…It goes a little bit like this

Dear God, let this decade be Kind to me, let fate hold my hand as I cross rivers, let it lift me up over the mountains that stand between me and my prosperity, let it be my shield from the arrows sent from my enemies, and most of all let me find a friend in it as it unfolds my destiny. Amen

At least with this, I know my expectations are not too high, I’ve given myself room to mend myself up when the cracks start to form where I’ve built a foundation. and when the moment of redemption comes again, I will be proud of what I’ve achieved and then I will go on my knees and say “Thank You God.”