I have often wondered what the fuss about certain days is about? In particular, Christmas and New Year are the days that fascinate me the most. As a non religious person, I understand why a day like Christmas would mean nothing to me, even though many non Christians celebrate it just as eagerly as Christians these days. But New Year is a whole different scenario. The impression I get is that people are happy to make it into another year. Some drink themselves to stupor and then wake up to make resolutions, many of which are promptly forgotten before end of month.
Why are we so excited about January 1st? What is so special about this day that makes it so intoxicating? These were the questions that occupied my mind as I lay on my couch on New Year’s Eve in 2013. It was the first time I ever dared to wonder about the significance of the first day of the year. Before then I was as eager as everyone else to celebrate it without knowing why.
On this particular day when I officially became a skeptic, I was just recovering from a bout of malaria and was happy to make it into 2014. Having returned from England barely a month before, my resistance to malaria was unnervingly low so my spectacular recovery on the third day, just in time for the new year was something worth shouting about. I saw something significant in the timing of my recovery. I was leaving all my troubles (symbolised by the malaria), in 2013. I looked forward to a 2014 free of any encumbrance. This was the same feeling I had on every New Year’s Eve. But why? The more I thought about it the more I realised that there was nothing special about New Year’s Day. It was just another day on the calendar. The day broke in the same way it always did, the hours flew by in the same manner as always, and night fell in usual fashion.
As I turned these thoughts over in my mind, I remembered a drunken conversation I had with my old school mate years ago. After confiding in me that he had forgotten that the previous day was his birthday, he remarked with a slur: “Not to worry. I will pick out a day randomly and, imagining it to be my birthday, celebrate it like I would have done on my actual birthday”. I realised that this was exactly what we did on New Year’s Day. There was nothing special about the day itself. Whatever extra dose of joy we feel on this day is totally made up — oh if only we knew how much control we can have over our own happiness!!
And then I realised that everything else in life is make-belief. The power of Jesus is make-belief and so is the power of Satan. For why else would pastors always insist that a convert must first believe in the story of Jesus before they can be saved? That’s the trick! Once you believe completely, you tend to see what you believe and before you realise it your ‘Lord and saviour’ is appearing in your dreams and instructing you to give 10% of your earnings to the pastor. The religious people say that man is made in the image of God. I think that God is rather made in the image of man. He/She/It is whatever we believe He/She/It is.
In the same way, offensive language is make-belief. If someone says to me that my ears are as big as the elephant’s, I have the power to decide whether to smile at him for complimenting me or lunge at his throat for insulting me. Perhaps an illustration will simplify this scenario. Imagine that the following was an entry in an English thesaurus: “Ears as big as an elephant — a famous English expression, meaning to have sharp hearing. First used in the sixteenth century.” If there was indeed such an expression defined in this manner then my friend would be complimenting me. On the other hand, if there was no such expression (which I suspect is the case) then I would be inclined to have a go at my friend. It is all a matter of interpretation and definition.
This is my New Year gift to my readers. You have more power than you realise. Most of the time we surrender this power to things we ourselves have made up. We formulate all kinds of ideas, give them a life of their own, and pretend that we are somehow under their control. Everything is make-belief — Who is beautiful? Who is tall? Who is wise? etc — all these are what we say they are. Any day can be New Year’s Day for you, the decision is entirely yours. You can be happy everyday of your life and not be bothered by anything. The power is in your hands!
Image courtesy: Building Futures Montessori
Thoughts of a free mind 