We’ve been making New Year’s Resolutions since the beginning of time and breaking them ever since. Usually, our best intentions fizzle out before the end of January. That’s just enough time to remember how much effort these things take and why we never did them in the first place.
I suppose it’s because resolutions are the best way to get the New Year started on the right foot. I probably should be cleaning out the garage, cutting back on cocktails, or at least trying deflate that spare tire around my waist. My husband helped come up with this list of ideas, of course. Honestly, this is starting to sound like an elaborate plan by him to get a clean house and a skinnier wife. But how did this resolution business begin? Why is the New Year the best time to obsess over goals we seldom achieve? Why do I need to stop drinking my precious cosmos?
Apparently it all started well over 4,000 years ago. The ancient Babylonians, who celebrated the “new year” in March during their spring harvest, had a series of rituals they would perform in hopes of fertile land and a fruitful future. The Babylonians would also make promises to pay their debts and help their neighbors. It makes sense, as you’d probably want all the good karma you could muster during the treacherous Iron Age. This same culture is also responsible for the origin of the New Year’s Baby-lonian. Okay, maybe not that part.
Rome is where things start to get interesting, as usual. After creating a formal calendar, it was officially decreed that January 1 was the beginning of the “New Year”. Romans were expected to offer resolutions of good conduct to their community and uphold these promises throughout the year. Of course they had to create the month of January first, which they appropriately named after the god “Janus”. Janus was the Roman god of beginnings and endings, usually pictured with two faces – one looking forward and one looking backward. Interestingly enough, my mother and I endure the same condition of having eyes on the back of our head.
Fast forward to the 17th Century. Early Puritans encouraged the population to avoid traditionally celebrating the new year (historical hangovers are the worst) and instead reflect on the past and consider the future. Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan and one of America’s most relevant theologians, took the idea of creating resolutions to a new level. Over a span of two years, Edwards compiled a list of 70 resolutions he had made and revisited it weekly. There the Puritans go again, trying to make the rest of us look extra lazy.
Like most things we do for no good reason, it looks like we can chalk this one up to tradition. Personally, I’ll be blaming the Romans while I’m cleaning out the garage on January first. Making New Year’s resolutions may seem ridiculous but it seems like there’s no stopping us. We’ll continue to better ourselves and our community; striving to become a pillar of society until it becomes mildly inconvenient. Happy New Year, everyone!
