Beauty and Naughty were excited. The year was coming to an end and the new year was about to begin. They were eagerly waiting for their New Year’s Day picnic when the whole family went out, ate, played and celebrated together.
Naughty was eight and he was smart and playful. Beauty, his elder sister, was ten and she was quiet, beautiful, responsible and studious. They both studied in the same school.
“Well, you both look very happy. What’s special?” their dad asked.
“New Year is almost here!” replied Naughty.
Their dad pretended not to understand. “So, what? What’s there to be happy about that? There’s a new year every twelve months!”
“And every twelve months, on New Year’s Day, we go for a picnic! We go outside and have lots of fun!” said Naughty jumping with joy.
“Why do we have fun?” dad questioned him again.
“Come on, dad! Isn’t the new year supposed to be filled with happiness and fun?” asked Beauty.
“Yes, but why?”
“I don’t know! Maybe to welcome the new year,” said Beauty.
“Yes of course, but why is the beginning of a new year something to be happy about? It happens every twelve months. Instead of ‘2018’, we will now write ‘2019’ in the dates, that’s all! Everything else would remain the same. Right?” asked dad.
Beauty thought for a while and she said, “Before starting anything new, we
eat something sweet, hoping that everything goes well. Similarly, we start the new year by enjoying and having fun, so that the entire year is filled with joy and happiness.”
“Very good,” said their dad. “But do you believe that if the beginning of the year is great, it will remain great till the end?”
The kids now remembered their dad telling them not to believe in fixed notions and superstitions.
Hesitantly, Naughty replied, “Dad, that’s what people believe…”
Beauty had a more certain answer. “No dad, just by starting off right, everything need not go smoothly till the end. We must continuously work towards what we want,” she said.
“You’re right. We must understand and remember that just by having lots of
fun on New Year’s Day, we cannot be sure that the rest of the year will also be full of fun. We must therefore be responsible and work hard through the year to make our life the way we want it,” explained dad.
“Yes, dad,” said the kids, feeling a little low.
Their dad realised that the kids’ initial eagerness to celebrate the new year was now replaced with disappointment.
“I’m not saying that we won’t go for the picnic or won’t celebrate the new year! We’ll certainly do all that. But I want you both to do something else at the beginning of the new year apart from having lots of fun. Something that many people do,” said their dad trying to cheer them up.
“What’s that?” asked Naughty and Beauty together. They looked at him hopefully, wondering what dad would ask them to do. They hoped it would not be something that would stop their celebrations.
“I want you to make a New Year resolution for 2019, a resolution that will make the new year better and brighten your future. A resolution is a promise that you make to yourself, to make small changes in your life to achieve what you want. Tiny changes to begin with,” suggested dad.
They all laughed.
“Well, kids, what do you think?”
asked dad.
“It’s a great idea, dad! I’ll make a resolution to study harder and to not postpone work,” said Beauty.
“Wonderful! And you, Naughty?” asked dad, turning to him.
“I… I… I’ll think and let you know…” Naughty said, and everyone burst out laughing again.
amazing story for children