How I was birthed, I don’t recall; and still how I will die, I can’t prognosticate. But, by the grace of God, a remarkable leap of faith has brought me this far; and inevitably, I acknowledge without any modicum of dubiety that one day I will exit this material world. Essentially however, today is the first day of 2017; hence unmistakably, represents the emergence of a new dawn for me. And whilst in exercise of retrospection a while ago, I got engrossed in a fascinating flash back that transcended mere nostalgic trip. In any case, it was indeed an incredibly sobering reflection where I had mental pictures that vividly evoked scenes redolent of both the distant and recent past. But amidst all the enthralling yet wistful reminiscences, I had a brainwave that jolted me. It was an instructive anecdote about a bumptious, vile and debauched man who assumed a life of self-revelatory and conducted his affairs with abandon, impunity and turpitude without any recourse to rectitude. Once, this reprobate man had set about to flatter his vanities by outlining a prodigious party for his New Year celebration. The eve of New Year in his reckoning present the fleeting opportunity to divest himself of the ethos and precepts of his social matrix; and, superfluously indulge in ostentatious display of depravity as well as obscene opulence. Pursuant to this, humongous arrangements were made with invitations extended to the crème de la crème of his ilk and some select acquaintances. Alas, few minutes to the soiree, he elected to take a nap to recharge his batteries but that turned out an ill-fated slumber from which he eventually pegged out. The magnitude of the sudden and unexpected demise of an ebullient man who had drifted to bed on account of reinvigorating himself for merry left guests shafted and grief-stricken. Consequently, the fever-pitch air of gaiety with all the pomp and circumstance transmuted into an atmosphere of inconceivable sombre outlook; and in lieu a party, his family fatalistically ended up hosting a funeral. The toasts, roasts and jokes of celebration were supplanted by a solemn eulogy of remembrance. Such was the gloomy end of an iniquitous life! For discerning minds, this villainous nay unvirtuous man’s dramatic exit obviously punctuated not just the futility of life but also the emptiness of all desires of the will. And the tragedy of his being, for all intents and purposes, was that he couldn’t have atoned for his ignoble acts before his transition because he didn’t forebode the summary of his life’s events so soon; and besides, I doubt if any of the august guests had envisaged his unceremonious departure to the world beyond. The thread and context of this imperious bloke’s unconscionable tendencies and misadventure is in truth very symbolic – any mortal may breathe his last anytime, albeit it fundamentally behoves humans to be conscious of that fact and regulate their lifestyles. But beyond any other thing, I had in the preceding hours leveraged on the imports of this exemplum about the inglorious man and submerged myself in self-introspection. Of course importantly, took stock of my existence thus far- a kind of personal life appraisal and soul searching. Pondering soberly, I imagined somewhat outlandishly the eulogy that would be delivered peradventure I join the great majority today. And I mused rhetorically, is the sum of my overall actions, especially those of yesteryears, indicative of how I want to be remembered? How would people sum up my life’s accomplishments, quirks, contributions and uniqueness? Even so, mindful of how my trajectory has been mired in a lifelong rollercoaster ride with salutary ramifications, I would of course opine that I have acquitted myself creditably; but largely, that is not for me to decide. Yet most significantly, the edifying narrative of that presumptuous man’s experience is a watershed event; and the preceptive lessons inherent therein would constitute an integral bit of the paradigms upon which my life would be pivoted as I build capacity towards a more productive and fulfilling future. Ultimately, it’s yet another milestone in my life; and I would be remiss not to appreciate everyone that graciously contributed towards my evolution. Folks, the bells have tolled; a new year is born, but your attitude to life is what will make the difference!