Here we are, stepping into a brand new year. 2022 is shining bright and we all have hopes that it will bring better tomorrows. I will not go into “peace on earth”, although it would be nice, instead I will tackle something we sometimes overlook and that is the most important thing.
This is the time when gyms get most of their membership. The crowd, after spending a good part of December eating, is now ready to get thin. Or, at least try. “Try”, I like that word, it sums up humanity at the beginning of a New year. We all want to be better but we give up, sometimes too quickly. We try to eat less, drink less, think less negative thought towards someone we don’t like. This is a time when we all question what we did wrong and how we could improve. It is a time of self-doubts and of reflexion. This is not common. It doesn’t last. It never does. Questioning one-self is one of the most difficult thing to do. We all live with a certain amount of lies about ourselves, pretty thick and pretty dense. Who wants to dwell on that. Life simply wouldn’t be possible if we did that everyday. There will be no joy in that. Or so we think.
Because self-reflexion doesn’t have to be a chore. Let’s say you take a new hobby. Piano, for example. The study of piano is also a study of one-self. No, no, I’m not joking. Look, you know, when you take piano, that you will be tested on areas you are not familiar with. And that’s it! The principle of knowing what we are made of is this: go through hardship and you’ll get some answers. You see where I’m going with this? When you learn, you stretch your capabilities, you get out of your comfort zone. All of the sudden you have to be aware of new landmarks, new rules, new ways of thinking. Then you have to digest those rules and be able to apply them, work with them, use them. As the mind struggles it will form a fresh pathway in the brain, something unexplored, it will expand its capabilities. Because when you work on your brain, it always gives you something unexpected. The study of drums might lead you to work out regularly. The study of piano might help you finish that classic novel you’ve always wanted to read. The brain, just like everything else in the body, serves many, many different functions. A set of hair is not just to be cut and make you look good, it also protects from the cold.
So, what do we wish for, as 2022 gets on its way? For a better brain. It all comes down to that. A better brain represents a better you, a better me.
I’m going to practice. Who’s with me?
