Bits & Pieces: New Year Resolutions

by Paula Johnson

 Ususally the end of the year brings reflection of the past year’s accomplishments (or not) and a more positive look ahead into a new year of promise, hope and resolve. I’m not one to make willy-nilly promises or resolutions, but I have made two over the years that I still make an effort to keep.

About 40+ years ago our next generation of Hinrichs’s began with my nephew, Adam. Although it was July, not January, I made a promise to Adam and all who would follow him that I would try to be the kind of aunt to them as we (John, Mary, Chris and I) had in our Aunt Mimi.

All six of that generation and the 3 of this newest generation know that I am here for them, support them and love them. It has been the best payoff of a promise I have made.

Thirty-one years ago this New Year’s, I made another. That generation had begun to grow beyond the city where the first two lived. So, I resolved to see every new niece and nephew. What a fabulous year that was! And I still see or speak to them now as they live from Lake Michigan to Los Angeles. 

Have difficulty keeping your resolutions? Be sure it is something you can actually achieve. Don’t overwhelm yourself from the beginning – you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot. 

Make it into something you WANT to do or that you enjoy or believe that you will enjoy. If you don’t like it to begin with, you set yourself up for disaster.

Make it beneficial – to yourself or someone you care about. The more it is tied to a benefit, the more likely you will stick with it. That is make it positive not negative. Try to avoid “don’t, stop or quit.” 

Give yourself time. Avoid giving yourself a timeline that is difficult and certainly not one that is unrealistic. You might need time to redo, restart or rethink. Maybe even keep a journal over your morning tea or coffee to help reinforce your progress.

Be kind. Sometimes the one we are hardest upon is ourself. Maybe that is a good place to start – promise to be kind to yourself. I don’t mean selfish – thinking of yourself first and foremost, but to give yourself a second chance, a smile in the morning or better health.

Maybe an incentive, whether intrinsic (feeling good about time with someone) or extrinsic (a contribution to the food bank for each small success).

How did this concept of New Year resolutions begin? 

Some believe that it began as long as 4,000 years ago with the Babylonians. That far back in time, the new year began in what we consider mid-March today. It was the time of planting. The Babylonians began their new year with an 11/12-day religious festival. During this time, promises were made to their gods. Promises to pay their debts and make returns on anything (especially farm equipment) they may have borrowed over the year.

Even knights of medieval times would use the new year passage as time to renew their vow of chivalry. Interestingly enough, they would make this vow not on a Bible (none yet) but on a peacock.

Julius Caesar created a new calendar in 45 BC. It included a new month to begin the year. He called it January after the two-faced god Janus. Janus lived in doorways and arches to symbolize a safe passage from a previous time to a future time. Caesar made January 1 the beginning of the new year, and it was the day Romans would offer sacrifices and make promises of better behavior for the new year. 

The founder of today’s Methodism (Methodist church beliefs), John Wesley, began the practice he called the Covenant Renewal Service which he usually held on New Year’s Eve or Day. He initiated it to countermand all the secular celebrations held at that time.

The Covenant Renewal Service included scripture readings and the singing of hymns. As time progressed New Year’s night services began to include declarations for the coming year.

Most of these resolutions, even into the last century, were religious or spiritual in nature: “stronger moral character, stronger work ethic, or more restraint in the face of earthly pleasures.”

Now, it seems, our resolutions are more like things we give up or change – like during Lent.

Some say that sharing our resolutions helps us become more accountable. So, here are mine for 2023: I will work to be surrounded with hope and love not fear and hate; I will seek the positive not negative.

May you also have hope and love in 2023.