Guiding Light: Looking back, looking ahead

It is already the end of 2022. I am sure many people feel it has gone too fast, as usual. This was the year we came out of extended lockdowns and the fear of pandemic. We tried to resume life like a bit more like how it was. During this time, it is a good idea, before all the fun and the partying starts, to really have a good look at the year gone by

Have we fulfilled any of our priorities or goals? Has some deeper underlying priority emerged? What have we done about it? Or what are we planning to do? Are there things I need to let go in my life? Are there things that I want to achieve for myself? What are my regrets? What are the things I'm happy about? What are the things I did well? What is it that needs to be done better? This is looking back into the year. Answering these questions will give me a good evaluation of what I have done in the last year. I need to emphasize that we need not be self-critical about oneself.

At the same time, we look ahead for the year to come and see what is it that I want to achieve next year? What are the priorities that I want to take forward? Is there anything new that I want to achieve - any new goals, new priorities, new ways of continuing forward some of the good things of the previous year. Have any newer priorities emerged?

It's good to spend some time thinking about these questions. Is it necessary? Well, one can always live without this awareness and find that a few months have passed into the new year and we are floundering about in our life without much of a goal or direction. Or we can spend some time on this and hit the ground running next year. So that we have a more fulfilling professional and personal life. We can reflect on these questions. The choices are up to each one of us. 

The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com

Published on: Friday, December 30, 2022, 06:00 AM IST