14 Things To Do Before You Say Goodbye To 2014

As the year comes to an end, you’ll be surrounded by suggestions about new year resolutions-How to make them, How not to break them and the likes. Before you embark on a new journey in a new year, it’s important to take time to reflect upon the past year, count your blessings or just be.

To wrap up the year you could:

1. Spend Time With Your Family

Your family plays a very important part in your life. But between your gruelling job hours and insane weekend parties, you did not find enough time to spend with your family. Make up for all those lost hours, take a vacation with your family or just stay at home together and remember all those beautiful moments you shared.

2. Take The Long Awaited Trip

You keep thinking, planning, thinking some more, but the trip you want to set out for does not happen. Before the year ends, pack your bags and leave. Catch a breath of fresh air, make your own bonfires, catch your own fish. Just leave already!

3. Finish Watching That Series You Always Wanted To

Your friends kept talking about these characters from this particular TV series and you felt terribly left out. You borrowed the entire series and watched the first few episodes religiously. Then, life happened. Its time you finished watching the series. You bet there’ll be more the coming year.

4. Take Time Out To Catch Up With Your Buddies

They are the ones who’ve stood by you for all these years. You talk to them over the phone almost every day and you all make plans to meet every week. But it never happens. Before the New Year comes knocking on your door, make it a priority to catch up with your buddies. No work/family/life excuses for anyone this time of the year!

5. Sort Your Wardrobe And Get Rid Of Clothes You Don’t Need

You bought a pair of denims last year and have never worn it. You might have outgrown it or the denims might have outgrown you or it just might not be the right blue for you. Pack time for such clothes.Share them with someone who needs those clothes and make more space in your wardrobe for shopping in the new year.

6. Give Back To People You Keep Taking From

From your grandmother who keeps lending you ten rupees every now and then, to your extra sweet boss. From your watchman who keeps up all night and brings you the newspaper in the morning before he tucks himself in to your colleagues who have always had your back. Everyone you thought you need to do something special for, do it now before the year ends. Smile and thank them again if nothing else.

7. Forgive And Forget

There are so many people who are a part of your life. Some are bound to have hurt you. And they have said sorry. Forgive them, even if it seems like the hardest thing to do.Because when you forgive them, you will free yourself of the feeling of being hurt that keeps bogging you down. You surely don’t need to carry that feeling to the next year.

8. Say Sorry To People You Have Hurt

You kept saying “I’ll do it tomorrow” because you were afraid of not being forgiven. You need to try and make an honest effort. NOW. Say sorry and make sure you mean it. It’ll help both you and the person you hurt to move on, guilt-free into a happy new year.

9. Make Important Decisions

You constantly pushed this to the back of your mind throughout the year-making a decision. Be it a relationship or your job, if you don’t want it, do not hesitate from saying no if that is the answer. It will do you a world of good.

10. Say ‘Time Out’ And Introspect

You can not understand what you need to do if you are not in touch with yourself. The communication channel that you share with yourself probably got clogged by the daily traffic of work, family and other issues. Take time off and look within yourself to find your answers.

11. Pen Down Your Thoughts

Take a deep breath, lie down on a hammock and think. Then write. The good, the bad, the nasty parts of your life. Paste photos, make sketches on the side. Then go over it once you’ve finished. And go over it whenever you need to next year. And probably publish the entire collection after thirty years. Or maybe not. But still write.

12. Make A Date With Your Unread Books

They say if you have more than twenty five unread books lying around, you need to worry. If you have crossed that mark, or are about to, READ. Even if not, finish reading the book you’ve wanted to for a while. You’ll definitely end up being wiser after having read it.

13. Prepare To Pa-pa-pa-paaaarty!

Yes, it’s the end of the year. And you can’t break the tradition. So get the party started!

14. Do Nothing

So yes. Doing a lot of things is important. But doing nothing, NOTHING at all, THAT is bliss. Laze around your room, or head to a sunny beach if you’re lucky, and do NOTHING. Wrap up everything or the rest can be done later. Do nothing first.