The Start of A New Year!

As last year's calendar has been stashed somewhere now, a new one replaces it bringing with it 365 days of uncertainties and promises. We welcome 2017 with a bang, colorful fireworks light the night sky and indeed it is a beautiful way to wake us up and remind us that the end is only the beginning. I know it may sound cliché but a new year always signify a new life to begin with. A new year gives us a chance to get rid of the baggages we've had had in the past year, at some point of our lives we have to let go of things we utterly don't have control of and the new year is, I believe, the most fitting time to literally burn those bad memories behind, cut the cord with toxic people, and just move on. Let's put it out there, 2016 has been a really rough year to most of us, responsibilities kick us backward, relationships shove us deeper into the ground and it seems like the only way out is for you to dig deeper and just let the ground swallow you whole. 

At the beginning of 2016—deny it or not—we thought 2016 was going to be good to us—cue for, '2016 please be good to me' posts—horoscopes forecast the events that'll take place on that year and some of it happens but time is tricky and the way I consider it is like as if it is a scrolled letter, anticipation and uncertainty always comes with it and you never will know anything unless if you un-scroll it up to its potential. Now that we've reached the end of our scrolled letters, the past has already been laid out; I'll quote our Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal: "Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan" roughly translated to English, it means that if you don't know how to look in the past, you won't be able to arrive at your desired destination. Lessons from the past are going to be your guide for this new year, it is going to be your firework, your moonlight in a subdued pathway, and your "Life for Dummies" book. Just because you're told to let go doesn't mean you are expected to forget everything, life doesn't work that way—in the medical sense, the only way to get rid of them is you have to find yourself in this kind of complex form of amnesia that gives your mind a clean slate—memories will always be your enemy, it would always be your nightmare while awake; but not all memories are like that because sometimes they are your solace that blankets your sorrowful soul, it aids those moments when you can't cry but you have to. Lessons take form in memories and you can't do anything about that. I know life isn't always going to be fair with us but that doesn't mean you have to just go with the flow; work your way around it, make yourself a list of life hacks. Consider this life hacks that I've created last-minute...

Life hack #1: I don't want to sound pessimistic but life is not always going to be those "give and take" kinds of moments, sometimes all you have to do is to give. Give love, give forgiveness, give food, give compliments, give gifts—even if you receive little to none in return, you just have to give. I know sometimes it will hurt a lot if what you give is taken for granted or not enough but that's the part of life, accept that fact because it is never going to change.

My second life hack would be to: surround yourself with positive vibes. It is probably the only way you will be able to survive this ultimate life roller coaster of life roller coasters. No man is an island; I am an independent person, I can do all things on my own—in terms of tasks, I can do it all by myself but when it comes to sadness, it just sinks my boat. People are like my limbs, they able me to swim distance. We all get to choose who surrounds us—except, of course, our family—and it's your choice whether to surround yourself with negativity or positivity. We get to see people everyday and no matter how hard we try, they will always matter at some points of our lives. Harsh criticisms will always find its ways to be heard and you just have to let it be.  And if you can't find the wavelength of the positive sign, be that positive vibe yourself and you would be the happiest man/woman.

Third life hack is to: accept. Accept that the only constant thing in this world is change. Accept that you can never make someone love you. Accept that somehow life will always get you to fall. Accept yourself because if you can't, you think somebody will? All we lack is acceptance, I don't know with you but I believe before you get respect you have to be accepted.

When it comes to family, it is a very sensitive topic for me—even talking about it right now just tears me up but in a good way though—my family has been through a lot the past year, fights have been fought, harsh words fly like poisoned arrows in the air, and it almost broke us; but what I've realized is that, adults, like children, need love—which will then lead us to my fourth life hack: give love. Love is undefined by science, they don't know its ways no matter what law or theory they apply it with, it just ain't susceptible to its advancements. Love is like magic, it softens diamonds. It's a mystery yet we get to witness how it works and the way it works is beautiful. Don't be afraid to love—which I'm still working on right now and I'm making progress—because when this all ends, one of your only regret would be that you forgot to turn off the faucet. Having done the hardest deed of life, that is to love, will be the defining moment of your lifetime, it would be the first rose that will touch your casket as they lay you six feet below the ground, and it would be your gate pass to heaven. Love is like the first stone you cast into a tranquil lake, no matter how small or how big it is, it will cause ripples that can be felt even up to its hidden corners. Love is like the water, they're meant to escape your hands; they are incompressible, they give life, they consist the majority of the earth, and it's everywhere.

These are my life hacks that I swear by. It worked for me and why wouldn't it with you? All of these hacks don't cost a thing, if your pride is your asset, get over yourself. You're nothing important than the things you do. You don't have to follow the life hacks that I've laid out, you either have to take inspiration from it or be spontaneous with yours. I advice you to do all this before the end of the end will come because the most heart-wrenching failure in life is to not having tried at all. Do it in small steps, you don't have to go all in. Have yourself a mantra and let that be your guide. Start over this new year, carry on what's unsettled in the past but don't let it define the rest of this year. Begin with the end in mind, widen your field of vision that it reaches 11:59 pm of December 31, 2017, picture yourself at that time frame and imagine the things that you would likely to celebrate before this year ends. And lastly... Don't dream, just do.