New Year Resolutions

Ever wondered how the tradition of making new year's resolutions began? Well here's a brief bit of background...

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.


The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.


The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the god Janus became more common New Year's gifts.


In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.


The Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar calendars. Some cultures have lunar calendars, however. A year in a lunar calendar is less than 365 days because the months are based on the phases of the moon. The Chinese use a lunar calendar. Their 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.


Although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year.

Have you made new year's resolutions in the past? Have you kept them?
If you haven't kept your past resolutions, don't depair you are among the majority of people of those who make new year's resolutions - research has shown more than half those who make resolutions fail to keep any of them while only about 12% keep one resolution!

So what should we do to make sure we keep our new year's resolutions? Well here's some tips:

• Don't make unrealistic resolutions. e.g. I'm going to lose 3 stone by end of January
• Only make a resolution to do something you really want to do. i.e. If you do not really want to stop eating chocolate, don't make a resolution to to that because you will fail
• Make resolutions that will benefit you and others. i.e. don't just make a resolution for the sake of it
• Make a conscience effort each day to take a step towards achieving your resolution
• Keep a note of your progress so you can see how well (or how badly!) you are keeping to your resolution
• Ask someone to help you keep in line with your resolutions. e.g. If you're trying to give up chocolate, tell your friends and family so they can stop you if they see you trying to eat chocolate.
• Finally, pray! God is there to help you with all you are doing, so ask Him to help!

These are just a few of my thoughts to help you keep your new year resolutions this year.

Good luck!