RESOLVING NOT TO RESOLVE! (shared from Austen Authors)

 

Early 20th-century New Year's resolution postcards
Early 20th-century New Year’s resolution postcards

Have you already broken your New Year’s resolutions? I confess that I haven’t! Of course, that’s simply because I never made any. I used to make resolutions when I was younger, but then I realized I lacked the “want to” to follow through. The cartoon below represents my current way of dealing with those who ask if I’ve made any resolutions.

Hobbs pic

Still, after seeing so many mentions of resolutions in social media, some posted by my fellow Austen Authors, I began to wonder why the tradition began and when? Here’s some of what I learned.

It seems the Babylonians made promises to their gods in March of each year. BabylonOddly, their resolutions had to do with returning borrowed objects and paying their debts. Now, those are resolutions I could get behind! And, with any luck, the neighbor who borrows all our tools would be reminded to return them at least once a year!

Then came the Romans, who began each year by making promises to the god Janus, the two-faced god who looks backwards towards the old year and forwards into the new. Their resolutions had a moral flavor: mostly to be good to others. This seems odd to me since they spent so much time conquering and plundering so many countries, but who am I to judge.

Janus
Janus

Then, when the Roman Empire took Christianity as its official state religion in the 4th century, these moral intentions were replaced by prayers and fasting. Christians chose to observe the Feast of the Circumcision on January 1st in place of the revelry indulged in by those who did not share the faith.

Supposedly, medieval knights had their own version of the New Year’s resolution called The Vow of the Peacock or of The Pheasant. One by one, during the last feast of the Christmas week, they would place their hands on a live or roasted peacock, brought in with great pomp in a large vessel of gold or silver by a bevy of ladies. It was presented to each in turn, and each madePeacock vow his vow to recommit themselves, for the next twelve months, to the ideals of chivalry. Afterward the bird was set upon the table to be divided amongst all present. The flesh of the peacock (or of the pheasant) according to the old romances, was the peculiar diet of valiant knights and heart-stricken lovers. Charles Dickens wrote about these oaths in a Victorian periodical he founded, All the Year Round.

The tradition has other religious parallels. During Judaism’s New Year, Rosh Hashanah, through the High Holidays and culminating in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Jews reflect upon their wrongdoings and both seek and offer forgiveness. Christians act similarly during Lent, although the motive is more of sacrifice than of responsibility. In fact, the practice of New Year’s resolutions came, in part, from the Lenten sacrifices. The concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect annually upon how one can improve oneself.

I searched for lists of the most common resolutions, lists of which resolutions were most often broken and the length of time most resolutions were kept. Here they are in order:

Top 10 New Year’s resolutions for 2015

  1. Lose weight and get fit
  2. Get organized
  3. Get out of debt and save money
  4. Enjoy life to the fullest
  5. Eat healthier and diet
  6. Learn something new
  7. Quit smoking
  8. Help others achieve their dreams
  9. Fall in love
  10. Spend more time with family

Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year’s Resolutions

  1. Lose weight and get fit
  2. Quit smoking
  3. Learn something new
  4. Eat healthier and diet
  5. Get out of debt and save money
  6. Spend more time with family
  7. Travel to new places
  8. Be less stressed
  9. Volunteer
  10. Drink Less

Length most resolutions are kept (enough said)

  1. One week – 75%
  2. Two weeks – 71%
  3. One month – 64%
  4. Six months – 46%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, I saw this meme and thought these resolutions had a lot of merit even if vacuum is misspelled, so I am sharing it with you!

My dogs recs

Now, since I confessed that I stink at keeping resolutions, I wondered about you? Am I the only one? Does something have you buffaloed? For me it was and is exercising more.Exercise

If there’s something that has you intimidated, would you be willing to admit it? Remember confession is good for the soul. And, for those who obviously have their act together because they keep their resolutions, here is your chance to brag in the comments! I hope you will.

Information for this post came from: http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2040218_2040220_2040221,00.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year%27s_resolution And http://billpetro.com/history-of-new-years-resolutions

 

 

Spread the love
4 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Brenda Webb
Brenda Webb
8 years ago

I am impressed Cecilia! You are one of the few who told me they are doing well on their resolutions. Hurrah!

Cecilia Gray
8 years ago

I’m still doing ok on mine! But there’s no healthy to be found beyond the eating of vegetables (some of which have been fried…) 🙂

Brenda Webb
Brenda Webb
8 years ago

I hear you Jen! 🙂

Jennifer Redlarczyk
Jennifer Redlarczyk
8 years ago

Hey Brenda, Between Calvin and Hobbes and the Dog’s list, you got it covered. No resolutions for me. But PLEASE let me finish Darcy’s Melody! Jen Red

Skip to toolbar