New Year, Same Atheist…But With a Twist

This article is best enjoyed whilst listening to the song “Christmas Lights” by Scala & Kolacny Brothers - https://open.spotify.com/track/6eh3dlk3eiW4zDrw2xixkQ?si=6a2c648c30af42dd

I ushered in the new year inside my bedroom staring at a list of my goals for 2025. I figured writing them down and staring at them could make them manifest.

My list was modest, considering that what I put on it felt partly inspired by some of the manifestation posts I came across on Twitter (X). As an atheist, I do not mind silently wishing the universe in all its wisdom from the Big Bang, could have some positive sway on how it aligned the stars for me.

I’ve learned that the absence of religion isn’t the absence of faith. Faith doesn’t have to be tied to a belief in a supreme being to be effective. Faith is from the Latin word “fidere” meaning “to trust”. One can be trusting in the aspirations of the future. Faith can be as mundane as a wish for something better.

Faith in a future yet experienced but hopeful to be better than my present is what gives people like me a reason to keep trying. It’s why I wrote down that list. Because even in the absence of a belief in the supernatural everyone still seeks something more than themselves.

2024 was a year of sitting back and watching life happen to me and happen for others. I soaked up the pressure of not being where I wanted to be yet forcing a smile for others to convince them I had gratitude for where I was. I laughed through the pain and scoffed at the tragedies of my existence.

But incredibly difficult as my year was, the truly astonishing thing about it was the peace that came with it. I slept soundly. I smoked more weed. I laughed loudly. I had more sex. I cried freely. I twerked terribly. I fell in love. I lusted vigorously. I experienced unbridled kindness. I (hopefully) was kind in return.

At the start of 2024, I had no written goals. I was eight months into unemployment and the only goal on my mind was to get a job. It’s the start of 2025 and this time I am giving goals a chance for the same reason most people make New Year resolutions even when they know 99% of the time they’d relapse: faith.

My faith isn’t tied to the ordinance of some deity rather it is entrenched in a desire to inspire myself to continue trying. The other day a friend of mine sent a chat string that read: “It’s a hard knock life, but I have to try because no one is coming to save me.” The truism of those words stung.

Unlike my religious friends, I know for a fact that nobody is coming to save me. So, it falls on me to make a hero of myself; one brave enough and willing to give this recurring tragedy called “life” another go. I want to be the hero of my own story and most times that means having faith in no one else but myself.

Truthfully, faith isn’t ever going to be enough. But it’s a start. And sometimes that’s all we need: a start: a reason to take one step forward even when the blizzard of life pushes us 90 steps back.

My faith is in trusting the process of my daily struggles and knowing that the life I envisioned through my set goals is possible. And on days when I miss the mark, I have the choice to accept my missteps and move forward, regardless.

Now, can the church say “Amen”? 😊😊😊

Cheers!

P.S. You may have noticed I did a little rebrand. We’ve gone from “Mifa Writes” to “My Writify Playlist".