Why You Don’t Need New Year Resolutions
It’s the end of the year 2020, an unimaginable year that has impacted many people’s lives on earth.
Some people they’ve faced life and death situations; most others still deal with daily life to survive.
Can you imagine that most people struggle to survive in such a civilized society? Yes, there are still a whole lot of people who lack food or shelter.
But most of us who seem to live a very comfortable life still survive. I am not talking about having enough food to eat or putting a roof over your head. I am talking about social survival and psychological survival.
Top 10 New Year Resolutions
Since many of us fall into this tradition of having new year resolutions, let’s look at those most popular resolutions we set for ourselves:
- Exercise more
- Lose weight
- Read more
- Make more money
- Spend more time with family and friends
- Be organized
- Learn a new skill or hobby
- Quit smoking, drinking…
- Save money, spend less
- Start meditation and/or practice yoga, qigong…
I am sure that list hits one or more of your new year’s resolutions.
You might notice that none of them seem to talk about surviving. All is about wellbeing. But the wellbeing of what? Look closely, they are about your physical and psychological wellbeing.
The body is physical, you know that. But do you know that the mind is also physical? Therefore psychological well-being is also physical well-being. Everything physical is about surviving.
Let me explain.
You want to exercise more, lose weight, eat healthier and quit smoking and alcohol to have a fit and healthy body. You want to gain more skills and knowledge, be organized, and spend time with family and friends to have a happy mind. You want to make and save more money to support your lifestyle, which is what your body and mind need. All of them are to make sure that you survive physically and psychologically.
IF it’s not about surviving, why would you feel bad about not achieving them? If you don’t feel bad about not achieving them, why would you start those resolutions in the first place? Watch another Master Dai’s nonsense: stop losing weight.
You may ask, what about the last one: start meditation and/or practice (whatever practice you want to do)?
Then ask yourself this question: why do you think you want to meditate or practice? If your answer is for better health and wellbeing, it is still for your surviving, nothing new or glorious.
If you meditate for love and peace, please look at the truth. Love and peace is only happening within you, it’s your making, your emotion, and your feeling. They are your psychological happening because of our human’s psychological surviving need and probably adding some social surviving need. Since a lot of people claim to meditate for love and peace nowadays, knowingly or unknowingly, you want to find some social belonging and acceptance.
Dissolve YOU and just be LOVE; that’s totally different.
Wellbeing vs. Consciousness
There is Nothing wrong with physical and/or psychological wellbeing. But you need to understand that consciousness will never come with wellbeing.
Because consciousness is not some psychological happening. Consciousness is your non physical existence.
When all your focus is on physical well-being, nonphysical will hardly strike you. Because all physical existence- any happenings to the body and mind, are so bright like daylight that easily distracts you. However, nonphysical existence- any happenings to the consciousness is so subtle that you will mostly miss it unless your mind becomes so even and calm like a mirror.
It’s time to discard all new year resolutions. Most people drop their resolutions by the end of January anyway. Instead, do this one thing every day.
Ask ourselves this question: I know that any day could be my last day; what will I do now?
