2026: A Happy New Year for Memory

 

“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

It had been in my scheme of things for the past few weeks to write something to mark the end of 2025. Yet, like many such intentions, it kept slipping out of my mind — until I reached the very last day of the year.

I wouldn’t blame my memory entirely for this.
But I can’t give it a clean chit either.

A new year inevitably brings with it an invitation to reset — and to resolve something ambitious. This time, my resolution is simpler, shaped by a very personal need: to retain and reinforce my memory.

I’ve decided to dedicate 2026 as the year of memory improvement.

Not memory in the heroic sense of remembering everything — but in the practical sense: better recall, sharper focus, and a mind that stays engaged rather than drifting.

Here is the path I plan to follow — and I sincerely invite you to join me if it resonates.

Train the brain — daily, deliberately

The brain responds to use. Small, consistent challenges matter far more than intensity.

• Do one daily mental workout: crosswords, logic puzzles, or even something as simple as the New York Times Wordle — modest, but surprisingly effective.

• Learn something new that stretches you just a little: a language, a musical instrument, or an unfamiliar skill.

• Read something and summarize it in your own words — aloud or in writing.

Move to support the mind

What’s good for the heart is good for the brain.

• Stay active most days — walking, cycling, swimming, or anything that gently raises the heart rate.

• Include light strength work a few times a week to support overall health.

• Build movement into everyday life: walk after meals, take the stairs, or pace during phone calls.

Eat, sleep, and check the basics

Memory is protected by simple, consistent health habits.

• Eat thoughtfully: more vegetables, fruits, fish, and whole foods; less processed excess.

• Sleep well and regularly — this is when memory consolidates.

• Pay attention to medical basics like blood pressure, vitamin levels, and medications, especially if memory changes feel unusual.

Use memory systems, not willpower

Good systems reduce daily friction.

• Keep one trusted place for notes, tasks, and reminders.

• Store essentials like keys and glasses in fixed locations.

• Stay socially active — conversation and connection sharpen memory more than we often realise.

I’m not aiming for perfection.
Just to remember more, drift less, and stay mentally engaged with life as it unfolds.

As 2025 comes to a close, I wish you clarity, good health, and moments worth remembering.

And if you choose to, join me in making 2026 a year where we don’t just live through time — but remember it a little better.

Happy New Year.

Faith Beyond Understanding: What We Don’t Know About What We Believe

The prompt from Poets and Storytellers United is "be inspired by the concept of “in between”.

Andamans

There’s a quiet truth we often overlook — that belief, at its core, is an acceptance that something exists or is true, even without proof.

We live in a world where logic reigns supreme. If something cannot be measured, tested, or explained, we tend to dismiss it. That’s why so many struggle with the idea of God — or maybe the idea of the devil. If it can’t be explained, how can it be real?

And yet, if we pause for a moment, we’ll see that much of what we rely on every single day works on faith — not full understanding.

We trust that the sun will rise tomorrow, that the seasons will change, that winter will pass. But even if we could sometimes figure out the how, do we really know why? We take comfort in patterns and call them “certainty,” but beneath it all, our knowledge is built on assumptions — on belief.

Our understanding of human-made things in life, even in the age of technology, remains astonishingly limited.
We listen to music from a flash drive, watch videos on our phones, and store memories in invisible clouds. Yet, if asked how these things actually work — how sound becomes a file or how data travels through the air — most of us would have no comprehensive idea.

And still, we believe they will work. We plug in the drive, press play, and trust that the melody will fill the room.

Perhaps faith isn’t so different.
Maybe belief in something beyond logic — Energy, Force, God, Destiny, The unseen — is not ignorance, but an acknowledgment of the vastness of what we don’t know.

In between knowledge, logic, stubbornness, there’s humility in accepting that our understanding has limits, and grace in trusting that something greater exists beyond them.

A Pledge and a Prayer

 

Have you ever woken up wondering how you’ll face the day, or whether you’re falling behind your own dreams? If so, you share something in common with a younger version of me — a time when I believed this feeling was natural.

One day, I realised it wasn’t. And since then, I’ve had to remind myself, again and again, that this heaviness is not a default state. It is the effect of life’s stresses, unfulfilled dreams, and surrounding expectations quietly clouding clarity.

The promise I now make to myself is simple:
I will not let that noise take over my life.

Life waits for nobody. It does not pause because I feel low, slow, or unsure. No matter how I feel, the day will still unfold — and I choose to make something meaningful out of it.

Here is my pledge — and perhaps, in its own quiet way, a prayer.

Each morning arrives as a vast canvas, inviting me to rise, to move, and to paint my own day. I must embrace this opportunity and do my best — not for applause, not for approval, but to tend to my own life.

I regret nothing.
The past is a path already walked. Every mistake was experience gained, every misstep a lesson earned. I extract the wisdom and continue onward.

My foremost aim is to safeguard my mind, my emotions, and my peace. Once this inner ground is steady, the mind is calm — able to navigate storms while others flail.

I strive to master my emotions, knowing that envy and fear shrink the heart. When I encounter someone greater, I observe, learn, and grow alongside them.

True peace begins when I mind my own path, stop seeking applause, and stop comparing my brushstrokes to others. Life is not a contest; it is a canvas.

Life will move regardless. But when I walk with intention — step by step — life quietly rewards me.

I keep moving.
I keep painting.
I keep walking.

My path is mine alone — and it is beautiful.
My path is mine alone — and I choose to walk it with care.