What Shall We Do Differently In 2025? – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1049

What Shall We Do Differently In 2025? – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1049

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1049 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com for publishing our contributions here.

Credit: olia danilevich

Credit: Sami TURK

PRAYERS & WISHES THAT YEAR 2025 BECOMES ONE OF THE MOST CHERISHED YEARS IN YOUR LIFE BY VIRTUE OF THE GREAT THINGS IT BRINGS TO YOU

Preamble

As 2024 draws to a close, it's natural to reflect on the year that was. For many, it has been a year of both joy and sorrow, of triumphs and setbacks. We've experienced the bittersweet taste of new beginnings and the sting of endings, the warmth of connection and the loneliness of isolation. 

Perhaps you've climbed mountains, both literal and metaphorical, reaching goals you never thought possible. Maybe you've faced unexpected challenges, weathering storms that tested your resilience. You might have celebrated new life, cherished precious moments with loved ones, or mourned the loss of someone dear. Whatever your experiences, 2024 has undoubtedly left its mark on you. The year, however, has closed. 

Coming of new year raises hopes and emotions. We wish that the new year will not be just a repetition of the previous year. Making New Year Resolutions is favored by many, but an equal number or more does not believe in doing so. Please do what you consider right for yourself.

It so happens that this post is published on January 1, the very first day of 2025. I shall not ask you for things to do at work, or for the society, or for the world (climate concern), I shall rather ask you to look inside and change a few things and do things differently. I have picked up these ideas from various people whose writings keep inspiring me every day; all credit to them and their great work. Names are not always necessary; you will find them when you look around. I do recommend reading a newsletter titled ‘The Marginalian’ to stay grounded. Link at the end.

Here is to be different in 2025, and beyond.

We Shall Be Strong Even Though Vulnerable

‘How you love, how you give, and how you suffer is just about the sum of who you are’. We shall be among those who love and share generously, and who have the strength to suffer without causing damage. We are all vulnerable, but it is not a sign of weakness. We shall carry our vulnerability with self-awareness and courage and not cause any harm to others.

We Shall Outgrow Ourselves

‘Everyone rises to his level of incompetence’. The incompetence and inability are self-imposed restrictions when we remain confined within ourselves. We see things from inside-out view, judge people with our own yardsticks, and refuse to learn new things. In essence, we restrict our own growth psychologically thus inhibiting our personal, professional, and spiritual growth. We shall break the mold and outgrow ourselves in all dimensions and directions. 

We Shall Choose Joy

We shall choose joy first consciously, with great effort, and pressing against the weight of a world heavy with many reasons for sorrow. We shall feel sorrow, take required actions, but keep pressing the weight of joy against it all, until it gets into reflexes, and becomes inner law of nature. Joy is not the absence of loss, friction, and frustrations; it is a function of focus, an inner rising by choice. 

These lines from Jane Hirshfield’s poem ‘The Weighing’ say it all.

So few grains of happiness

Measured against all the dark

And still the scales balance

We Shall Forgive

‘In any bond of depth and significance, forgive, forgive, forgive. And then forgive again’. The deepest relationships descend to the darkest and disquieting places in our soul where our shames and vulnerabilities lie, where we are less than what we would like to be. Forgiveness is the alchemy by which shame transforms into the honor and privilege of being invited into another’s darkness and having them witness our own with the undimmed light of love, of sympathy, and nonjudgmental understanding. Forgiveness is the engine that keeps the relationship moving ahead and on track.

We Shall Not Just Resist Cynicism – We Shall Fight It Actively

A cynic is a person who believes that only selfishness motivates human actions and who disbelieves in or minimizes selfless acts or impartial views. Presence of doubt to seek the truth is life-expanding; cynicism is life-contracting. Unlike critical thinking, that pillar of reason, it is inherently uncreative, unconstructive, and spiritually corrosive. Like all forms of destruction, cynicism is infinitely easier and lazier than construction. In our society today, nothing is more difficult yet more gratifying than living with sincerity, and acting from a place of largehearted, constructive, rational faith in the human spirit. 

We Shall Believe in Ourselves

Maya Angelou advised that when people tell you who they are, believe them, however, when they tell you who you are, don’t believe them. We are the only ones to know ourselves, and we are the only custodians of our own integrity. The assumptions made by those who misunderstand who we are and what we stand for, reveal a great deal about them, and absolutely nothing about us. We shall know ourselves and believe in ourselves.

We Shall Not Work For Prestige Or Status Or Money Or Approval Alone

Paul Graham observed that prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even our beliefs about what we enjoy. It causes us to work not on what we like, but what we should like. The extrinsic motivators can feel life-affirming in the moment, but ultimately, do not make it thrilling to get up every morning, or satisfying at the end of the day. In fact, they may distract and detract from doing things that offer greater and deeper rewards. 

We Shall Play Long Game In A Short-term World

This title is taken from the latest book from Dorie Clark titled ‘The Long Game’. 

“Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time.” This is borrowed from the wise and wonderful Debbie Millman, for it’s hard to better capture something so fundamental yet so impatiently overlooked in our culture of immediacy. The myth of the overnight success is just that — a myth — as well as a reminder that our present definition of success needs serious rethinking. The flower doesn’t go from bud to blossom in one spritely burst and yet, as a culture, we’re disinterested in the tedious process of blossoming. Although that’s where all the real magic unfolds in the making of one’s character and destiny.

Sum Up

I wish you a year filled with joy, love, and endless possibilities of doing differently, and learning and being rewarded and getting fulfilled in so many ways.

Concluded.

Disclaimers: Pictures in these blogs are taken from free resources at Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, and Google. Credit is given where available. If a copyright claim is lodged, we shall remove the picture with appropriate regrets.

For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, however, it happens unintentionally, I offer my sincere regrets.

Reference:

https://www.themarginalian.org/