Resolute?

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New Year once again: true to my prediction in yesterday's post, I was sound asleep by midnight, and even missed the sounds of the brave souls out in the teeth of the storm outside letting off fireworks, because I was listening to music on headphones. I'll post a piece about the album [and its genre] I was listening to, presently. However, suffice it to say, I eventually woke from the rigour mortis of dream-sleep at around half-past-eight this morning, with my sole thoughts turned to getting a brew on [that's a pot of tea to the uninitiated: nothing to do with beer], which I duly did, unwinding the cramp of sleep and jolting my brain into semi-action with the tannin and caffeine hit of 2:1 Assam to Earl Grey tea [loose tea, naturally], as is my normal custom. I used to favour a lovely Rwandan tea, blended with safflower, which Marks & Spencer used to sell, but unfortunately no longer do, but there you go: Rwanda is better known these days as an intrinsic part of the dodgy politicking of the previous UK government's non-policy surrounding inward migration to the UK.

But I digress from my intended path. New Year's Resolutions. What on earth is this curious ritual about? In my seventy years I have never once seriously considered making one, as the inevitable disappointment was always obvious, in my eyes, even as a child. A lifetime's habits are exactly that, and at least as far as the trivial indiscretions and foibles that most resolutions are aimed at reforming, they should be left well alone: anything more profound requiring professional help. As with resolutions, so with life-goals; don't try and second-guess the future: life will always catch you off guard, and you might as well roll with it. The best opportunities are the ones that appear out of the blue; the ones that you least expected, and the one's that you are least prepared for. It's in the dealing with these proffered opportunities that counts: life changes randomly anyway, so what's the point of wishing otherwise? This is not to say that free-will and self-determination don't play their part in the human[e] playbook, but rather that, very often, the best decisions you will ever make are the most spontaneous ones presented to you...

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