Change of Mindsets
The new year 2007 is just a few hours away. I like to make a last post for this year and end with an observation.
I hate resolutions which many feel obliged to do at such a time. I am rather spontaneous in my actions and along the years I learnt to appreciate and make the most of every moment. Such a strategy does not always make one popular for the simple reason that society needs to be structured so that everything will move through life smoothly (or so it is thought). However, nature has its own designs and too much of a structured existence can be stifling.
Most baby boomers - not only in Malta, but in most countries too - has gone through a disciplinary phase during their upbringing and have grown to either hate it and go to the other extreme where they learn to be more relaxed with themselves or else get too absorbed with discipline that it becomes a psychological handicap to one's growth and well being.
Lately, I happened to come across a poem by Jorge Luis Borge, an Argentinian writer, who at 85 realises that his past 'proper' life had robbed him of many of the simple joys of life. The poem called Instants expresses my very thoughts about the necessity to venture forward in life and not be too preoccupied with all its ups and downs. Too many safety nets create another problem - the regret that we have not really lived.
I often smile when I remember an incident that happened to a friend of mine. His grandpa was one who always thought of himself as being wise and sensible. He exercised thrift and prepared himself to all eventualities such as carrying an umbrella when going out, etc. One of his habits was that every empty glass jar he comes across he would store it on a shelf he had above his toilet seat for possible future use. One day the shelf gave way and all the jars fell on the toilet seat and cracking it all over....
In the past I don't know how many times I heard the phrase ingrained on me 'to save for a rainy day'. The thing about this philosophy is that who ever exercises it tends not to know how to recognise the rainy day. He keeps waiting for that day and never improves his lot even if he can.
I would rather change that philosophy to 'saving for a sunny day' as giving a break to ourselves is more healthy in the long run - than waiting for disasters that are most often being manifested by our very selves when caught in this kind of thinking.
Cherish Every Moment - "I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to the other senses. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. Make the most of every sense, glory in all the facets of pleasure and beauty which the world reveals to you through the several means of contact which nature provides."~ Helen Keller
May I wish everyone the best of health - both mentally and physically - for the coming new year.
of the Maltese culture is often threatened by social changes and researchers try to keep customs alive by continuously exposing their findings to the emerging generations.
