The article discusses the tradition of New Year's resolutions and suggests a shift in focus from drastic change to mindful reflection. It encourages readers to consider their experiences, joys, and aspirations for the coming year.
Times Square Alliance volunteers throw confetti as the clock strikes midnight at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square for 2024. Are you making resolutions for 2025? (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)We fail at most of them. Yet we keep trying.Babylonians apparently began the practice of pledges as the first civilization to record celebrations marking the new year – though they turned to a new year in the spring, when they planted their crops.
The Romans moved the new year to January and named the month after the god Janus, which had two faces, so he could look both forward and backward. During the Christian Reformation, the founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley, focused on betterment by creating the Covenant Renewal Service, also called a “watch night” on New Year’s Eve. There’s nothing magic about midnight. But it seems society is attached to the idea of a clean slate calendar. “Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it yet,” as L.M. Montgomery wrote in Anne of Green Gables.Of course, a ball dropping won’t automatically transform you. But who says you need to completely reinvent yourself anyway? Rather than resolving to become more perfectly perfect, we can use the year’s end to reflect. When did we feel the most joy in 2024? What are we most proud of? What drained our energy? We can envision the future. Who do we want to spend more time with in 2025? How do we want to invest our hours? What would we like to let go of? No matter how much weight we’d love to lose or how much money we’d like to accumulate, time is finite. My son will start high school in this next year. How did that happen? Last year, my resolution was more of a mantra. I wrote it on a stone that sits in a catchall tray in my living room: “Breathe.” Of course I have goals I’m working toward. But I don’t want to waste these busy, fizzy years of parenthood being stressed out or ruminating on mistake
New Year's Resolutions Reflection Self-Improvement Mindfulness Future Goals
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