With the new year fever still trending, people have gone back to the age-old tradition of making resolutions and predicting how long till they break it. Though many have refrained from making ‘new year resolutions’ this year due to the enormous pressures to follow through, others wanted to keep the tradition alive. But is it necessary to make a resolution for the perfect start of the year? Read through to find out!
What is a new year’s resolution exactly?
A resolution is defined as a strong-willed self-decision. Making one during the new year’s is mainly seen as a tradition to bring in recent positive changes and the latest years.
However, the most common issue with the resolution is that humans are bored easily. We chase things until we get them. But when we do get them, we are done with it quicker than we spent pursuing it. This avenue opens up for resolutions that are barely kept up past February.
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But as Walt Whitman has rightly remarked in his poem ”A Night At The Beach Alone”, the past, present, and future are interconnected. And when we keep traditions alive, we are a part of the collective consciousness of our ancestors. The origin of the new year resolution will throw some light on the same.
What are the origin of new year resolutions?
New year resolutions started their journey from the Babylonians during 2000 B.C and then made their way to the Romans. The Babylonians celebrated their New Year during a 12-day festival- Akitu. This marked the start of the farming season, and along with planting crops, they crowned their king and promised to pay their debts. Another ordinary resolution was returning borrowed farm equipment.
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These decisions supposedly helped organise the events for the current year and tie knots of the past year. They were seen as positive inputs into the lives of the people who found a new meaning and found the motivation to follow through with their decision. This was soon followed by Romans marking the 1st of January as new year according to the Julian calendar, thus coinciding with new year and resolutions.
The reasons for the resolution
Making realistic resolutions is a significant part of resolution-making. Resolutions in the Roman culture started as sacrifices to the Roman god Janus (later called January). These sacrifices and promises of good moral character throughout the year also served as the perfect closure for the past year’s reflections. They help keep the ‘drive’ in you and achieve your potential.
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But worry not if you are among those who feel pressured by deadlines. Not everyone works well under pressure, and many hastily take new year resolutions under peer pressure. For example, one cannot claim to only be healthy from the recent years but instead take a resolution to eat healthier than last year. Understanding that resolutions help us beat our self-score of improvement puts us in competition only with ourselves and not the world.
The verdict
Making a new year resolution and posting “new year, new me” isn’t going to do wonders. Making and following through with the resolution helps keep the positivity and optimism for the rest of the year; some even call it ”cheap planning for a better future.” If you aren’t still convinced, here are some reasons you should make a resolution.
- Taking responsibility for your actions and being accountable for them help make you a better adult
- Hope and optimism for the impending future and the excitement of undertaking a new task
- Reduce the amount of anxiety that may occur due to decreased productivity; because you are working on your long term goal
So, what are you waiting for? It’s not too late to still make a resolution!
