De Zaaier (pronounced ‘desire’) is a statue of a sowing farmer in front of the Atlas building. I cycle past him every morning and what can I say, I really like the guy. He may seem small next to Forum, Orion and Atlas but unlike these fancy behemoths, he literally stands for something: long-term thinking (he’s almost 90), taking care of yourself and your environment, sustainability, hard work, and obeying to principles.
These things are becoming increasingly uncommon and this is why I really enjoy making new year’s resolutions. They help me find out what I want and to create my future, rather than getting lost in the day-to-day grind. Some smart person once said that nothing good is ever easy. But given enough time, like a whole year, or even five, A LOT can be achieved.
So this year I will meditate for at least 15 minutes every day and omit foods with refined sugar from my diet. Unfortunately, life is not like uni, where I can just slack off for the first few weeks, then cram it all into the study week and still pass. Unfortunately.
Imagine a farmer that refuses to sow, because he’d rather watch Breaking Bad. He can’t make up for it later – there will be no harvest. I am sorry if this disappoints you, but the universe will never bend any of its rules just to please anyone. No. Improvement takes time, diligence, and patience, just like growing vegetables.
Plant some seeds, do your best to make them grow and see what happens.
What new challenges are you taking on? Which people would you like to meet? Which bad habits will be left behind? I’d love to hear about your plans for 2014 in the comments
P.S. If someone influential reads this: please move de Zaaier to the Forum. He deserves to sow where the ground is fertile.