2011 is over, 2012 is in. A lot of things have happened in past year, both personally and communally. Some of them were joyous and some others not so. Now that we are into the new year it is time to look back and say, thank you. In spite of things, events and people bringing us pain and sorrow in certain cases the sum total of all that has happened was good. That is why we are here to welcome a new year.

When we think of the new year what stands out, apart from the celebrations around the world, is the attempt to make resolutions and to stick to it. If we look back at the past year we might see that our lives may not have fulfilled the resolutions we took for the year gone by. This I believe is because we tend to compartmentalize our life. Our life is a continuum. Everything that we do, everything that happens in our life is interconnected. We cannot just set some things right and have the rest of the things to remain the same.

Everything is interconnected and every action and attitude has an impact on everything else. What is required therefore is an attitudinal change. Often the unhappy moments in our lives are the results of us trying to do that extra bit to make ourselves happy. Now, that is the catch word, ‘ourselves’ happy. More often than not our attempt is so much focused on the self that we fail to see the impact our actions have on others.

If on the other hand we try to make others happy we would realize that there is joy in our lives without even trying to work for it. That is an attitudinal change, which can work wonders in our lives in the new year.

Let us try to make others happy in whichever way possible and we would have joy floating around us all the time. What better gift to aspire for, than to be joyous all the time in 2012. It is possible with a little bit of effort. I wish you a very Joyous New Year!