DESIRE

Give In To Desire

Most New Year resolutions are about taming temptations. “Have ice-cream!” “No thanks!” This New Year, yours truly resolved to abstain from sugar and cream. And wondered how long it would last. Well, most New Year resolutions don’t last long. Mostly. Mercifully, as the year wears off so does our resolve until one day we forget about the resolutions as we do an out-offashion piece of garment. Mercifully, because holding on to a self-binding declaration beyond a period betrays an annoying infallibility. To be human is to be vulnerable, after all. One wonders why we use this great tradition to pander to the ascetic lurking inside us. Perhaps it’s because we get a kick out of kicking ourselves. Ergo, “one shall not’’ is how most New Year commandments begin and the most popular of them are about giving up one or the other good thing of life. In other words, we turn it into an exercise in self-denial. But, hey, self-denial is an overrated virtue. Indeed, one wonders if it is virtue at all. It’s the most wretched rationalisation for lack of purushartha or vigour.
Spiritual leaders who preach the virtues of self-denial themselves live in the lap of luxury. Others who advocate it are those who have either had their share of fun or who have no clue as to what fun is all about. For the man on the street, such preaching serves little purpose. At best it makes him smug and at worst, it burdens him with guilt about enjoying the few luxuries to which he has access. Needless to say, it adds to one’s stress levels. More often than not, one finds oneself being chased by the very thing that one wishes to run away from. Also, taking a broader look, self-denial is the roadblock to human progress. Cravings and desires have spurred growth and development. Whoever discovered anything without first desiring it intensely? Curbing one’s legitimate temptations is, therefore, hardly the best way to welcome the New Year. Rather one should use it as an opportunity to liberate oneself from the middle-class squeamishness that blights pure pleasure. A wise wag has said, “Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again”. Why not, then, make this New Year resolution: One shall not deny oneself anything from now on.