Customary to this time of the year, there’s an inevitable energy. We look forward to changing our ways; to become better than we were last year. It’s encouraging. But there’s also another, less talked about side to the whole idea of changing ourselves for the better. Changing our ways means taking the step to be different than who we were. And when we decide to be different than who we were, people who have grown accustomed to our old ways might not be very welcoming about it.
You’ve hung out a lot at the bar. This fresh new year calls on you to reduce the time and money you spent going out to get drunk. First challenge: saying no when you get your usual invitation. Social expectations are incredibly powerful. Most people won’t be able to say no; mostly because of fear of disapproval. And there you have it, once again you find yourself at the bar; this year’s resolution killed off before it could even gather any sort of momentum.
Examples like these could be many: cutting down on money spent on fast fashion to save instead; joining a book club instead of going to the cinema for every other film premier. Regardless of what our resolutions are, who we set out to become will inevitably disappoint certain people. Real freedom is to understand that our choices aren’t for everyone’s liking.
The alternative to going to the bar again is to politely say no and explain our reasons. Our friend(s) might understand. Chances are, they might not. ‘So you think you’re better than us?’. Initially, you might be greeted with a lot of scorn. We can’t please everyone and that’s okay. We just need to make sure we aren’t disappointing ourselves (yet again).
Happy New Year 2020!
The Mindful Nepali 
I always accepted the changes in people if they were clearly meaningful and didn’t require explanations(Self-understandable) . On the other spectrum of it, people who change and wouldn’t care to explain, I would find it absurd because they owe some explanation to the ones concerned for them if not the whole world out there. After reading this, I have a new perspective on how trying to change will ultimately disappoint someone whether the situation is explainable or not.
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