New Year’s resolutions
The Babylonians ate and drank a lot; they were fat; they smoked and were hopeless with money. They were the first civilisation to invent New Year’s resolutions. One of their customs was to return something borrowed from a friend over the year just passed.
The Romans celebrated New Year by seeking forgiveness from enemies of previous years. The Chinese let off fireworks over their New Year, while other cultures went in for bonfires, processions and masques. The idea was to cleanse the self of past sins and bad habits and start again with a clean slate.
These days we do the same thing, if less ostentatiously. We pledge to lose weight, exercise more, and quit smoking. We undertake to save more, spend less, pay down our debt. Mending relationships are high on the list too – making up with friends or family, or making an effort to get on with work colleagues.
Do these resolutions work? Usually not, say psychologists. That’s because they’re based on wishful thinking, rather than commitment. There’s a gap between our intentions and our actions.
The most effective way to stop smoking, for instance, is simply to stop. Studies show that sudden abrupt cessation is more likely to be effective than setting a particular date in advance to stop – January 1st, for example.
There’s also the problem that if we make a resolution and then break it, we’ve set ourselves up for failure.
Does this mean we should forget about New Year’s resolutions altogether? Not necessarily. We often realise that there are some things in our lives we’d like to change.
The New Year might give us time to mentally prepare for them – knowing we’re going to have to make them sooner or later. The holiday season might be a good time to view the past year with objectivity to see what does and doesn’t need to change.
