The New Year's Resolution

Should I or should I not? That’s not the hard part. I can make a New Year’s resolution, but can I stick with it and follow through? My intentions are good but my willpower is not always strong. As I was thinking about New Year’s resolutions, I begin wondering how they got started in the first place. So, I was off to do a little research.

I know that making a resolution is a time-honored tradition, a chance to start over, rid yourself of bad habits and have a fresh, positive outlook on life - but how did it all get started? The history of the resolution began over two thousand years ago. Our first month of the year is named after the mythical Roman King Janus, who is a two-faced symbol. His two faces do not represent hypocrisy, but they do represent the ability to look back on the past and look forward to the future. The Romans asked for forgiveness from their enemies in the celebration of the New Year.

I did not realize that the start of the New Year had been moved around and had not always been Jan. 1. Various people of the world have celebrate New Years on: the night of the first moon after the vernal equinox – the first day of spring, the winter solstice, and phases of the moon. There may be more so don’t take this as an all inclusive list. Even today, the New Year does not begin on Jan. 1 for all cultures. It does begin on Jan. 1 for people who use a 365-day solar calendar. Jan. 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 BC. For people using a lunar calendar with the phases based on the moon rather than the seasons, the new year begins at the time of the first full moon over the Far East after the sun enters Aquarius – sometime between January 19 and February 21. The New Year – new beginnings, a clean slate no matter how you celebrate or when your new year begins.

If you know of any interesting facts on how New Year’s resolutions got started, please feel free to add to this post.