The celebration of a new year is an ancient one – one that has been around ever since humans started making calendars. Though the holiday is mostly secular now, in cultures throughout the world and history, it’s had significant religious significance. The earliest recorded New Year’s Celebration took place 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. For the Babylonians, the new year began on the first new moon following the vernal equinox (the start of spring). According to History.com, the Babylonians “marked the occasion with a massive religious festival called Akitu (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring).” Atiku was a celebration of the triumph of the Babylonian sky god Marduk over the evil sea goddess Tiamat, the aftermath of which created the world. Interestingly enough, the ancient Babylonians also had a version of the modern custom of the New Year’s Resolution. They would make promises to their gods to pay their debts and return anything they’d borrowed and, if they kept those promises, the gods would bless them.
Over the years, different cultures created increasingly complex calendars and affixed the beginning of the year to some agricultural or astronomical event that would become a holiday. The Egyptians celebrated the new year with the annual flooding of the Nile. The Chinese New Year took place on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The Romans celebrated the new year at the beginning of January in honor of Janus, the god of beginnings, a practice still shared by most people around the world today. Naturally, the tradition of new year’s resolutions varied among these nations as well. For early Christians, for example, the first day of the new year was an occasion for reflecting on one’s past sins and resolving to do better in the coming year. In the spirit of this idea of the new year, I want to reflect on how well I’ve done this year. And what better place to start than the New Year’s Resolutions I made last year? I want to reflect on the four resolutions I made last year and examine how well I did honestly.
Spending an hour per day reading a book. As I stated in an earlier blog post, I have so many books that I haven’t read them all. I need to make sure I devote much more time to them than I already have.
Well, unfortunately, this is the promise I had the most difficulty keeping. While I do read intermittently throughout the week, I have a bad habit of getting distracted by whatever shiny thing appears before my eye, whether it be a new YouTube video, a new online story to read, a new argument to get into on an Internet forum or some new recipe that I want to try making in the kitchen. As a result, I often find myself unable to read as I should. Worse yet, I gained so many more books for the Christmas holiday that I’ll have to read. Tsundoku strikes again!
Spending an hour per day writing. Besides my blogging, I mean. My mother and I have wanted to write a book together, but I haven’t set aside the time. Setting aside an hour a day should be enough to get started.
This one was easier to keep than the others. While the progress on that book is slow, I do write many things in private besides what I write here. Some of those essays become the basis for what makes it onto this blog, but many of the ideas are too controversial or kooky to release to the public. Still, writing them does help me hone my craft. However, I would sometimes find myself unable to fulfill my obligation to complete the blog on time because of how excited I’d get writing some particular essay.
Praying the Rosary every day. While I say prayers regularly, I feel I don’t devote enough time to God. The Rosary is one of the most powerful prayers one can make, so praying it will enhance my spiritual life.
For most of the year, I have not kept this promise, though I still continue to pray every morning whenever I can. That said, I have recently joined an online Catholic that has daily Rosary prayers. I see nothing but promise in that group.
Losing more weight. What can I say? I still need to lose the Freshman 15 that I gained in college. I’ve been researching some dieting and exercise tips that I’ll share at a later date.
This past year, I lost over thirty pounds. Even if I regained a few of them over the Christmas holiday, I’m certainly proud of myself for having stuck to it. Around the middle of the year, I started a Keto diet, replacing most of the grain in my diet with meat, vegetables, and dairy products and cutting out chips (for the most part) from my diet. Though I am no longer doing this diet, the results of it plus the exercise have been beneficial for me. I’ve received more than a few positive comments on my appearance. The weight loss was so dramatic that I had to ask for new pants this year, having found that the majority of them are now too large to fit me.
Still, I cannot afford to sit on my laurels, I have to continue losing weight to get myself down to something healthier – I’m aiming to keep my weight between the 190-to-200-pound range, which is an ideal weight for a man of my age and height. I’ve discussed with my mother resuming our morning walks, which we temporarily stopped due to how busy our lives had become. Dieting and exercising are easier when you do it with a friend or family member.
In conclusion, I’ve not done most of my New Years’ Resolutions from last year. Part of the reason for this is that I didn’t take my advice. Embarrassing, I know. However, I will not let that discourage me. Here and now, I will reaffirm my New Year’s promises and strive to do better in 2022. Wish me the best of luck, and have a happy New Year!