I hate resolutions but…

2017 is but a few hours to go. This is when people suddenly remember they have to harvest some blessings and change their personalities in a few hours. Drunkards hope to, by some miracle, quit drinking in a few hours (for some, a few minutes), workers promise to improve their ethics, etc.

Resolutions are not my thing. Personally, I think they are mostly unachievable and people really need to stay true to themselves. After all, there is little one can change about their personality. I have, however, come to believe that one can leave a few things behind and learn new ones to improve themselves. With that being said, I resolve to add on to myself, a few changes. For those who hate resolutions and thought they had added one to their number, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Don’t stop reading, though.

I had always seen myself as a very positive person. I do not, however, know why people tell me I am sometimes very uptight. As a consequence, and knowing very well that peoples’ perceptions of me are not what define me, I have set out to be more positive about my life. For the record, I still think I am a very positive person.

Growing up is not fun sometimes, you know. I used to be a jolly child, jumping from one tree to another. Oh, please! I’m not a monkey. I was just kidding about the jumping bit. Seriously, though, people say I’m boring now. I used to know lots of tricks, jokes, games and fun stuff. Nowadays, all I talk about is my research and how my simulations are not running and all the “boring” stuff (boring to you, of course) you can imagine. I promise to stop talking about my boring life in 2017. I also promise to learn how to keep a conversation. My boring life and conversations push my friends away. I can’t believe after promising you I wasn’t going to talk about what I do, I just did. Wait! We’re still in 2016 right? Good! Then I have a few days to talk about them. Come on, guys! You do not even have to know what simulations are to understand what I am saying. Just know that they [simulations] are one of those things you go to school for years for.

Back to what I was saying: I am going to put on a positive mental attitude (pma). I have taken upon myself, a mentor by name Napoleon Hill. Many of you have heard of him, but if you haven’t, please try to read his books. That man is awesome. A few of his books are Think and Grow Rich, The Law of Success, The Master Key to Riches, Success through a Positive Mindset, and so on. I have not read most of these books, but I have put my mind to it to read most of them by the end of 2017. I hope I don’t get too busy and forget this resolution. I find it hard to read books which do not teach me “hard” skills. I don’t know what that means, but I just said it.

To prove to 2017 that I mean business, I recently read a book by Ellen DeGeneres entitled, “Seriously…I’m kidding”. That book is 240 something pages! Knowing myself, that was a milestone. I rewarded myself with a pizza. (After eating it and feeling so good about myself, I realised I actually eat pizza quite often. I guess I need to figure out what reward would be most suitable for me. ) Ellen DeGeneres is such an excellent writer. Very few authors can keep me captivated for so long a page. The above-mentioned book has a myriad of life lessons interspersed with humor. You’ll enjoy it. I’m assuming you’ll read it for the following reasons: firstly, because I said so, secondly, it’s Ellen, and lastly, who wouldn’t like to learn life lessons and laugh alongside? Dear Ellen, I just marketed your book. How much are you willing to pay me for such an unsolicited favor?

A random thought:

Personally, I read books for one reason; to get my punctuations right. I am a sucker for punctuations. I believe they can make or unmake you. Inasmuch as I may learn little or no lessons from a book, I am definitely assured of learning how to punctuate. Hey, come on! Stop checking my punctuations. I didn’t say I was perfect. If I were, I wouldn’t be reading about them in the first place. I find reading novels and general books very boring an activity. What I do, instead of reading, is listen to the audio version of books. People do the same thing in different ways and I know that is what makes us unique. One day, whiles in the university, a classmate of mine walked up to me and asked me how I study successfully. I really did not know how to answer him. Personally, I cannot read without writing anything down. I usually do not want to deceive myself into believing I am really downing a lot of information when in the next few days, I would totally forget what I read. But do you know that (this is to those who learn in the same way that I do) sometimes you end up copying the whole book without actually learning anything really? My point is people differ.

Back to my resolutions:

I bought a guitar in the middle of 2016. For a long time, I had nicely put it in its stand and I would always just wake up and stare at it. Know this: learning to play the guitar is a really hard task. It demands a load of dedication and commitment (just like your girlfriend). People say you need a teacher physically present for you to know if you’re doing the right thing. But wait! What about the first people to have made and played it? Did they need someone present too? People learn differently. I had heard I needed long fingers to play the guitar. I can play a few songs now–thanks to YouTube. Not all advice is meant to be heeded. I think the guitar comes to me naturally. I have always held the view that all my kids will play at least one musical instrument. Musical instruments seem to be those things you can run to with all your frustrations. You can even ask them to teach you to cook Jollof rice in the event that your boyfriend wants to leave you because you can’t cook. My point is I resolve to improve my guitar skills by the end of 2017, so help me God.

Building a website from scratch has always been one of my dreams. Coupled with the fact that website developers have found for themselves a very lucrative niche in Ghana, I am definitely going to build my first professional website by the end of 2017, so help me God. If you want to join me in achieving this resolution, come on! Let’s start off with HTML, CSS, Python and JavaScript. We do not have to cram everything at a go. I believe in learning steadily. We can start off with boosting our confidence by learning HTML. Trust me, it is very easy. Python is like that plastic chair with one broken leg that you know you need to throw out but since you’re a keeper, you insist on sitting and balancing yourself on it every time. I don’t understand what I just said, but what I mean is, every programmer should know Python. I know our conversation escalated quickly from learning the guitar to learning something as hard as Python. But hey! They are resolutions; we don’t necessarily have to achieve them. Resolutions are like those…erm no more analogies. I am really bad at them.

In 2017, finally, I want to know God more. Some of you may not be happy with this statement, but that is my resolution. Make yours :). God is my strength and I don’t know what I would do without him. My favorite verse comes from Psalm 34. I muse about it all the time. “This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and delivered him from all his troubles”. I don’t know the version of the Bible this is quoted from since I wrote it off the top of my head. God is not a myth. He exists. People say, “Why do you believe in a book [Bible] which was written 2000 years ago?” I am a mathematician (or I claim to be) and I believe most of the theories handed down to us by mathematicians from times before Christ. How can I not believe in the words of Holy Scripture?

My last resolution is to resume my blogging hobby. Many people are not aware I used to blog. It was about boring stuff that many people were not interested in—making money. I’m not even going to brag about it. I have therefore achieved another of my resolutions even before 2017 starts. Isn’t that awesome?

Set for yourself easy and achievable targets for the upcoming year. They will make you feel good and will push you to set even more ambitious targets. Everyone’s got to start somewhere right?