New Year, New Outlook, New Chances

As of 5.44pm, which is the time when I commenced writing this entry, I have been living in 2016 - a year brimming with possibilities and opportunities for none other than moi, though I do hope that your 2016 shines as brightly too - for seventeen hours and forty-four minutes, which doesn't even account the numerous hours I devoted to sleeping off my late night euphoria in bed this morning. Needless to say, I was rather reluctant to separate myself from sheets of sheer warmth (which definitely counteracts my lizard-like chilliness) at 10.30am, especially when New Year had already come and gone in such a rush!

Still, I wasn't the only person to have been enchanted by the fantastic firework display which brought London and indeed the whole of the UK (if you weren't already dropping off into a slumber by then) to a standstill for ten magical minutes as the nation were blown away by crackles and pops of colourful delights that lit up the city's sky. Moments like those somehow make me believe for a short while that anything is pretty much possible because I suppose that I never really let my expectations become too grand, perhaps in fear of being disappointed: hardly the ideal emotion you want to be experiencing as a new year kicks off.

Nevertheless, I proudly and discreetly maintain my childhood passion for magic which, in recent years, has been boosted by watching spell-binding programmes such as Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (though Willow's temporary descent into black magic doesn't really represent the kind of magic my heart believes in). Although you might struggle to understand why the likes of Phoebe Halliwell or Willow Rosenburg have to do with New Year celebrations, I think that they fit perfectly. Why? Whenever the New Year approaches, I start to cling to these optimistic beliefs that all of my dreams - including the less realistic ones, such as getting my hands on a Louis Vuitton bag (though, let's face it, the nearest I will get to one is gazing at its picture on the Harrods website) - will come true, pretty much in a similar way to my fairy godmother appearing and casting spells of absolute joy for me.

Fortunately, my thoughts and beliefs have developed a more, well, sophisticated taste in recent years, and I think that I've pretty much persuaded my mum that I'm no longer obsessed with hovering cars becoming the upcoming year's latest creation (though Back of the Future's lack of reliable predictions secretly annoys me!). Still. Even when problems may be looming in the faraway distance, I nonetheless hope for success - or at least a sprinkling of positivity - to be awaiting around the corner. Personally, magic symbolises happiness for me because, if I had just a little bit of it, plenty of good would be injected into my life, which would of course produce a very happy year.

Besides, one of the few things that I do like about New Year is that, for once, pretty much everyone is united with the intention of goodwill for not only themselves, but other people. Too easily I can forget about all of the people surrounding me either at school or at home because transporting myself to Sky Go or Revision Mania (albeit not on quite a pleasurable par with Sleepyland) is sometimes much easier than noticing others; occasionally, all that I want to see is myself. And well, is that really so bad? Deep down inside of us, I cannot shrug off the feeling that we automatically view our needs as more important than those of other people because we possess a disguised instinct for always defending ourselves; regardless of whether they share our likeable personalities or interests, we will usually take care of ourselves first before we even consider the plight of another person.

Selfishness, which is pretty much the only word that I can think of to describe my point (even though I don't see it in such a negative way), is brilliant for achieving your personal successes and remaining level-headed when focusing on a particular target. Obviously, I get to express some of my typical teenage selfishness by spending hours cooped up in my bedroom at a time for my studies, which might deprive me of some precious time that I could otherwise use for hanging out with my family and friends, yet it isn't selfish at all because it is benefitting me. If only goodness can come out of it, selfishness - or awareness of your own needs - should be celebrated for enabling society to develop their own abilities and confidence in themselves. Well, sometimes we need to learn certain things from ourselves instead of from others - a point that I will definitely remember whilst revising for my exams over the next few months!

However, forgetting about our own needs for a little while and embracing other people's happiness instead simply contributes to the magic of New Year which, despite only really lasting for one evening, warms you up a bit and gives you an incentive to look back at New Year's Eve in a positive light for years' to come. OK, people often reminisce about how many shots of vodka they could drink until they shared a hedgehog's bed - a green, leafy bush - to finish off their New Year, yet there is a hidden message behind the last day - and indeed the first - of the new year which, if you look between the lines, is only awaiting to be recognised and valued.

Here's to a very positive and Happy New Year, albeit one declared officially eighteen hours and twenty one minutes later!