When I was going through the finer details of a health insurance policy that I bought a few months back, what caught my eye was the mention of a 30% reduction in the premium amount if I was able to complete 10,000 steps for 270 days in a year. I can proudly say that I have already completed 100 days of the said 270; of course, the biggest motivator was the money that I was going to save – good health is just a by-product. Well, whatever your motivation is, it is always good to keep moving, on the jogging track or in life. Stagnation is not going to get us anywhere and I have learned a lot about it through my life. I have realized that whenever I am constantly on the move – either working at my desk or around the house, or walking on the road, I become robotic. I just focus on the task at hand and nothing else. It helps me be in the present moment. Recently, I have also learned to use one particular self-affirmation very effectively, especially the moment my mind starts to wander toward negative thoughts. I tell myself that I am a robot and I have no feelings. My job is to execute the task at hand and move over to the next one. It’s like the reverse of a captcha which asks you whether you are a robot, except that my answer to myself is “yes”. Believe me, it works!

The other side of moving is moving on – from everything harmful, toxic, negative, and dark to all that is bright, beautiful, nurturing, and positive. And this is not as easy as just moving physically. It takes time, effort, and extreme willpower. It also needs a lot of fearlessness, the ability to let go of self-guilt, and the very raw quality of being utterly shameless in the face of extreme humiliation, sarcasm & criticism. But it is very much possible. Nobody in the world is perfect. We all have our ups and downs. Glossy exteriors hide rough patches that cannot be seen by the untrained eye. What appears is like a false ceiling – when it starts to fall off, you see the ugliness of the actual roof. So, what exactly are we bothered about? And yes, since everything has another side, my learning, from my experiences, as cliched as it sounds, is not to be judgemental if you yourself do not like to be judged. Moving on therefore is not a selfish trait solely for your own benefit, but also to move on to a better you for the benefit of others around you. I had a wonderful 2023 and I am looking forward to an even better 2024. So, as I keep moving and moving on, I urge you to do the same and I look forward to seeing you on the other side of 2024. Here’s one of my favorite tracks to get you into the groove!