With winter around the corner, real cricket back live, and a vaccine imminent, the mood’s upbeat. Soon a new year will dawn on us, and with it, our regular zest for new year resolutions. Twitter seemed to be almost priming me for these resolutions in laying out how I should be thinking of 2021:

Atypical of other tweets that you come across, and irreverently scroll down on, this one made me think. How many times in 2020 were we a spectator to what was happening around us? More importantly, how many times did we know that we could do something but decided not to?

Committing to something and following-up on it is a serene thing. It underscores a certain bias for action, which at its heart, dispels the fear of the outcome, and allows us to enjoy the journey. And the more we enjoy the journey, the greater our reservoir of courage, chutzpah, and discipline, to take on the next commitment, and the other. Now isn’t that a life well lived? And doesn’t that sound more fun than sitting on the sidelines?

During my first semester in college, all students were assigned local guardians — elderly folks in town we could meet and share an occasional meal with, should homesickness dawn on us. I was particularly lucky, in having met a loving couple, in their 70s, with a remarkably refreshing outlook towards life. While there were things one could learn by just observing them, Rick (the husband) signed off all his emails with a version of this quote:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, espresso in one hand – strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO – What a Ride!”

To Rick’s quote, perhaps making our ride memorable is simply a function of participating more and spectating less 🙂

And since this post started with a tweet, it seems apt to end with one. Musafir_hun_mai raises a valid point below:

Since I fall in the camp of both loving cricket and advocating for more participation, here’s my first 2021 resolution: I will be hitting the nets again in 2021. What’s yours?

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