Resolutions

 

It was a Friday, I think, the eighteenth day of March and I was in office with colleagues at my old station. Each of us glued to their phone watching the Presidential address relayed on the Facebook pages of major news portals.

And then the announcement came through: Public gatherings including places of worship, pubs, weddings, music shows, rallies, and cultural meetings are suspended for 32 days with immediate effect.

Like a predator in the night, 2020 had prowled, then lurked here, and lurching in one go, had pounced upon us.

And then the uncertainty began. The lockdown kept on getting extended for many months on end and I recalled a particular conversation I had with a friend toward the end of the year. “I don’t think resolutions make sense anymore,” she said.

 

“I suppose they still do. Why?”

 

“Well, I didn’t achieve even a quarter of the things I had hoped to.”

 

I waited.

 

“Can you imagine how many other people relate with this?”

 

“But you made it out in one piece.” I offered.

 

“Is that figurative? Because to be honest I feel broken.”

 

I gave her a once-over. “You seem fine to me. No bruises at all.”

 

“So much for someone who always says we weren’t made to only survive but thrive.”

 

“You left out the part where I say: there are exceptions to every rule.”

 

A couple of years ago I had promised never to make resolutions again but that instead, I’d live on each day basis. I think I had come to that conclusion in an instance of disappointment from previously unrealized aspirations.

I reneged on that promise because the following year I actually set resolutions. Hitherto blind to the plain truth, I learnt that whether my resolutions were realized or not was not the most important thing but that merely journalising the things I wanted to achieve in the period of 365 days gave me some sense of purpose and direction.

Internet photo.

Then entered this year. Because of the Pandemic, most of our work (at my new place of work) is virtual. So, we meet online each morning to catch up on what we’re working on for that day and things like that. Anyway, on this particular morning, we shared on things to do more in 2021. But in hindsight, I think they were actually small bits of our various resolutions.

Someone shared that they intended to reduce social media usage. Now, this is easier said than done I thought. Matter of fact, most folks lately live on the internet. And I’m certain that they can’t imagine a life with social media. But the more I thought about it, the more the idea of reducing cybersphere time made sense. Not that I wasn’t aware of how ensnaring it can get. But that I had in past tried to give it a wide berth with little success.

 

In all honesty, detoxing from social media made and still makes absolute sense in the grand scheme of things.

 

Another shared that they intend to read more this year. And that resonated with me. If there’s one thing I set out to do this year, it is building a shelf with notable titles. I don’t have any grand book targets to beat but one thing I’ve set out to do this year is to buy at least ten books by African writers. I think I’ve already bought five books – all by Ugandan authors and I’m intent on acquiring more.

 

“It’s been said over and over again that health is wealth. So, this year I intend to take care of my health,” another quipped in. And for a second I actually flirted with the idea of becoming an ardent Dr. Kasenene follower. For the uninitiated, the good doctor is a popular nutritionist who has made a name sharing often unsolicited albeit honestly good health tips. He has also somewhat singlehandedly waged a war against fast foods gobbling among Ugandans. 

 

“I intend to be physically and spiritually present for myself and others,” said the last colleague. It was the best way to wrap up our session on things to do more this year. Because life is not about being stuck in the past regretting past mistakes or being gnawed at by trepidation about the future. But the truth of life is this: the past is gone forever; the future isn’t guaranteed and it’s only the present that really matters. It’s only what we do now about our situation that could influence how we turn out tomorrow. That would ideally compel everyone to only get bothered about what they are doing now, not ruing the past or future.