As the end of December approaches, many of us will be sent scrambling for a resolution to make as we welcome in the new year. Whether it's to lose some weight, eat healthier, or read more, the odds are the resolution will be given up before the end of January. It seems to be the more committed we are to these resolutions on January 1st, the quicker we lose steam when completing them. So if we don't even stick to these resolutions, why do we continue to make them?
New Year's resolutions are actually a tradition that go back nearly 4,000 years. The Babylonians were one of the earliest civilizations to celebrate the new year, and they introduced the idea of making resolutions too, in a way. They would make promises to their gods about bettering themselves because they wanted to start the new year off on "the right foot." The difference with their new year, though, was that they celebrated it in March in order to coincide with the Spring Equinox.
The Romans followed the Babylonians tradition of a spring new year until Julius Caesar had it changed to January to follow his new calendar, which is more closely related to our modern day calendar. The Romans had a more extreme tradition of offering up sacrifices to Janus, the "god of new beginnings," in order to honor the new year and bring it in on a good note. Thankfully, we haven't kept up that tradition!
Now while all of this history is rich and long-running, you're probably wondering why I'm giving you a history lesson and what it has to do with our idea of New Year's resolutions. Well, I think it should inspire us to really see what the new year means instead of getting discouraged by our failed resolutions in the past. The new year has always been a sign of starting fresh, a new page in our stories, a feeling of opportunity and renewal. New year's resolutions are our way of voicing these feelings into goals we can aim for- even if we don't stick to them. The fact that we feel that chance for change and recognize that we can better ourselves is what is important. It's clearly human nature to seek an opportunity for self-improvement, and even if the ancient civilizations had slightly more official resolutions (i.e. sacrificing to gods), that doesn't make ours any less important. Happy new year everyone, and may this new year bring you many opportunities for improvement, change, and happiness!
