Afghanistan’s New Year brings with it the message of spring; of flowers and happiness. It is an announcement that harsh winter has ended and pleasant season of spring has come. It is the reason why people try to celebrate it. Although a New Year is celebrated in all the nations like new Christian year, new Chinese year or new Islamic year and people show their great enthusiasm and joy on such an occasion but Afghanistan’s New Year is supported equally by the nature when it also exhibits its joy by covering the trees with new leaves and blossoming new flowers.

Although a year that ends also saddens us by the fact that we have lived up one more year of our life but usually, people and nations think inversely and positively. This is taken as a time to forget our miseries and losses of the last year and start up the life with a new spirit. It is also the time to make vow to bring betterment in all the issues related to our lives; emotional, business, educational, spiritual and of course, most importantly, in our personality.

In this regard, nature gives us a beautiful and important lesson when trees shed down all their old and pale leaves and brings a new life with vivid colors and beautiful leaves and flowers. It can be said more like a process of over-hauling when entire machinery of nature goes through a process and in the end, everything emerges more beautiful, more hopeful and more relaxing.

You might have experienced that before Eid or any important occasion, we take our cars to the mechanic for cleaning and fine-tuning of the engine. First of all, the car is sent to the cleaning where it is thoroughly washed and cleaned. Then mechanic opens all its parts, cleans them, oils them, replaces the broken or damaged parts and then fixes the parts together. When the car returns from the mechanic after this process of cleaning and fine-tuning, you feel a wonderful change in the car. Its machine becomes quieter and it moves smoother and you enjoy driving it. This change in the performance of car also affects and changes your mood positively.

There is a law of nature that if a thing remains in the same state, it is a sign of loss and degradation. There is no need to mention this fact but it is better to remind that even when the water, the most necessary thing for the existence of life, remains at a place for a few days, it starts stinking and losses its quality. Water is reminded for its positive qualities like it refreshes the body and keeps the engine of human body in move and also performs a number of other important functions but when this important thing doesn’t change its position, it turns into a poison and if humans drink such a stinking and rotten water, they may get diseases instead of blessings.

Same is the case with almost all the things present in nature. When a person stays in the same status of mind, thinking and action, he can be termed to be getting weak. If the level of knowledge and behavioral intelligence remains the same even after a year, a person can be termed to be getting deteriorated and just like the case of water, you would gradually lose elevated qualities and develop some poisonous qualities. This happens because the nature keeps changing and being part of the very nature, if we don’t change ourselves; we also lose our good traits and slowly turn poisonous.

In the same way, a status or condition that persists in the same pattern for a long duration can be termed to be dangerous or in  less offensive words, boring. Why do we feel that in the end of winter, we get very much tired of the cold weather and start remembering the hot and sunny summer days? Similarly, a time comes when the summer also makes us bored and we long for the days and nights of winter.

But one more point should be cleared in this regard. A person may say that I lived an year which was perfect for me in all regards and I was not in loss. This may be the case but if he doesn’t have any desire to make better his achievements and success in the coming year and he is going to be contented with the performance of the previous year, he can be termed to be in loss. Though it is a fact that we never think or act like this and always set the bar higher for the coming year.

There is a famous saying that, ‘If your today is not better than your yesterday, then you should regard yourself to be in loss.’

It means, there should always be a new and better target to be achieved and this process should never cease.

There is a famous Turkish book of moral guidance by the name of, ‘Quest for Renewal.’ This book tells us how why it is important to keep check of our personality and lives and consider its every single part and always look for bringing betterment in them and continue this process of betterment forever.

This process of renewal is not limited to individuals. Its clearer examples are present in form of different nations, business organizations and educational institutes. A man was very much interested in getting more and more information about the different famous universities of the world. He shared his interesting findings in the following words, ‘I was really surprised to discover few things about a number of famous and old universities of the world. These universities had such a wonderful record and tradition of teaching, research and progress that it was not possible to compete with these universities if one wanted to open a university, no matter however money you spent. In the end I found out that these universities never stopped growing and never ceased their quest for betterment. However good they were, they worked more and more to bring betterment and now they have earned the result of many centuries of this renewal and elevation. Contrary to them, many universities faced decline when they got contented with their present conditions and quit their efforts to bring betterment.’

Same is the case with nations. When its members continue their quest for betterment and keep renewing themselves, the nation as a whole grows, prospers and keeps rising among the nations of the world.

Yesterday, a pleasant rain washed away the dust of last year and we welcomed the New Year with a light and pleasant shower. New Year always brings a message to check ourselves, assess the achievements of the last year and set new targets for the following year. This is more important to us as we are in dire need of improvement and if we improved ourselves as individuals, the country would also improve.

Years of loss has snatched our belief. I don’t know how much we are going to believe on above points and start acting but there were many in the world who believed and changed. Change is the reality and it would remain as a reality either we accept it or not.