New Year, New Yew!
53rd Edition
Happy Spiritual Monday!
Well, it’s official now, I suppose: Happy 2023!
As the years turn by and tick over, I feel that we are put in the position of re-evaluatng, revising and resetting. As we have overwhelmingly adopted the practice of “New Year’s Resolutions” we have also entered into the instantaneous world of instant cancel, refund, change plans last minute-dom. What this means is that we have somewhat lost the connection of what resolution means, or is meant to uphold with our commitments to one.
That’s why I’d like to present another option for the year ahead.
Yew
One of my best friends and I have a little game we play and it’s just sort of evolved over the years. It’s remarkably simple, but it’s near guaranteed to make whoever plays it smile. Here is the extended rule book:
Whenever typing messages to each other, any words that have a syllable that sounds like the letter “U” or the word “you” we substitute it for the word “Yew”. We also substitYewte it when we are speaking to each other. Make sense? If Yew haven’t figured it out yet, pretty easy and silly little game, but the point of it is that we get excited about the game.
“Yew” is a little hoot or holler that people give each other with slight falsetto voice, often in the surf when someone gets a barrel or a good wave, but is Yewsed in other activities when someone generally does something good or cYewl. The act of yelling “Yew!” to someone even gets those in the vicinity more stoked.
Starting to get it now?
So this important education piece on the word Yew is to set the groundwork for the rest of today’s edition.
Resolution
With the expectance of and declaration of New Year’s Resolutions, it has widely become a fun joke that we watch each other set an intention only to lose it half way through the year, or even earlier. What I mean to say is; it is as if we have collectively accepted that New Year’s Resolutions don’t work, and it’s just a silly game. Side note: Props to all those who do adhere to their resolutions! To the strong, determined and disciplined among us, I honour you.
Perhaps as a people we have forgotten that a resolution, or to remain resolute, is to have a strict adherence to an act or our word. As I mention often, we have capabilities now to change and break plans up to the very last minute, and this has likely influenced our integrity over matters of commitment.
This is not a good or bad thing, but it is a thing. And it’s a thing that could use a bit of renovation.
What I have noticed, is that we often set resolutions or goals for things which we “Know I should be doing…” or “… would be good for me…” This tends to mean we are trying to motivate ourselves into patterns that we think we should have in our lives, but that may already have a negative emotion attached to them. For example: Many people will party in the lead up to the new year, party for new year, then declare they are going on an exercise barrage to work out more and get slimmer as a contrast to the unhealthy lead up they’ve had. Many of these same people will be those who work out because it’s meant to be good for them, not because they actually enjoy it or feel good doing it.
This is a distinct point of difference, as it is always much more challenging to maintain habits and practices that we don’t enjoy - ever noticed the amount of TVs, music, and other distractionary tools in the gym? These are so that we can mindlessly let the body get reps in, while the conscious is caught up in some likely pointless show, news repeat or other story that is not connected to the present moment. Simply put, we want to experience the benefits we believe are meant to come with the act, but we don’t want to be part of the act… Wild.
This is why I have a proposal for tuning your new year. Or should I say tYewning your nYew year…
New Year, ResolYewtion
We say “Yew!” for the things we enjoy and love, and this gets us stoked and pumped, and this likely implants a happy memory of the act, and….
So, what if we changed the spelling and the sound of our commitment, added some joy to its declaration instead of just feeling it’s drudgery?
This could very well be the thing that gets life going the direction proposed. Instead of picking something that you feel you should, or have to do, start with something that will get you stoked every time you speak of it or engage with it. I’m not saying that getting fit is bad or unneeded by any means, rather to say that the slight alteration of the title and soul of the action may have more value for you in the long term.
As an example: Let’s say you do genuinely want to get fit and your resolution is to go to the gym 3x a week. This is great, but will you uphold it? What if you tweaked it to make a ResolYewtion: Let’s say instead that you commit to driving or riding your bike or however you get to the gym with your favourite high vibe music going through your ears, you sing along with it at any volume with genuine disregard for how it’s received by anyone else, you do your workout, have a cold shower, then walkout of the gym and proclaim “Yew!” after the session. Then you smile at 2-3 random people and compliment them on anything.
Doesn’t this sound more fun? More playful and exciting. More bYewtiful?
Or, take on our game, and start adding a Yew into places that otherwise were bland. See how your mYewd rises, life amplifies and stoke levels skyrocket.
New Yew
I know this may seem and sound a bit silly and there’s a good reason for that: It is! But what I’ve come to realise in the past year, is that my main operative level is one of introducing silly into the world. Always has been. In my life I have followed a path of accrual and sharing of philosophy and wisdom which have helped me to grow and become a better man, but I have realised more and more since the birth of my son how I have demonised the silly part of me in some ways and I chYewse to bring him back to the spotlight.
To those who know me well enough, it’s no surprise that I love jokes and joking, puns, playing with words and all sorts of things that make even the staunchest, most stoic face crack even the tiniest, wry smile. The shift that has gone unseen, is how I have begun to believe over the years that this is a trait I should transcend and grow out of. That I must be all in for philosophy and creating a serious life for myself and family and grow up.
I’m reminded of the Yin and Yang, and how there is a perpetually oscillating pendulum of life, so my New Year’s ResolYewtion is to maintain my path of growth and wisdom, but to share my silliness more fully. I have always believed at my core that most people take life too seriously, especially since none of us are getting out of here alive anyway! Today, I declare that I will aim to make my son laugh every day, through any means necessary and that I will actively work to bring more stoke into people’s lives who I get to interact with. Just saying this brings me joy, so I know I’ll follow through.
So: What about Yew?! What is it gonna be that starts January off in the most stoked year ever fashion?
Commit, then go out and have a bYewtiful day, won’t Yew?
And so it is.
New Year, New Yew!