The calendar is a social construct, but it’s one that runs the world. We organize our lives according to the days, weeks, and months, our time punctuated by national holidays and personal celebrations. We’ve collectively created new measures of time that transcend the calendar and the course of nature. We’ve decided summer’s boundaries are Memorial Day in late May and Labor Day at the beginning of September, when summer, according to the calendar and the solstices, doesn’t begin until the third week in June and doesn’t end until around Sept. 21, the date Earth, Wind, and Fire immortalized in song.
Because January is the first month of the year, Jan. 1 represents a newness, a rebirth, a fresh start for all of us, even though it is truly just another date on the man-made calendar.
I believe that Jan. 1 is the ultimate day of optimism, a symbol of hope and faith that no matter what, this year will be better than the last. Fittingly, we begin the year with a new resolve to make it so. We make resolutions to become the very best versions of ourselves – to reach our goal weight, to improve our diet, to exercise more, to improve our finances, to declutter the house, to give up a bad habit. All are lofty goals, but such resolutions are hard to keep. We’re all humans with busy schedules, and changing our lives, even for the better, is hard work. Resolutions are often about sacrifice – sacrificing that thing we love to eat to improve our diets, or our sleep to get up early and hit the gym, or our leisure time to work more hours or to do a big, deep clean. No wonder, according to the Pew Research Center, that 89% of those who make resolutions backslide within the first month.
New Years’ resolutions can enrich our lives without being so difficult. So, instead of making resolutions that involve work and sacrifice, make resolutions that involve fun and indulgence. Those resolutions can also enrich your life in a meaningful way.
Think about what you love or what you feel is lacking in your life. Do you love the arts? Resolve to visit a museum, or attend a theater, or a dance performance, or a concert this year. Already an arts regular? Go to see something somewhere you’ve never been or haven’t been in a while. Do you love to eat? Resolve to try a new restaurant every month or every other month, or, if you love to cook, try that recipe that makes your mouth water but seems a little complicated. Do you love to read? Try a different genre and immerse yourself in a different world.
Perhaps you feel like you’re in a rut and stuck in a routine. Resolve to take a different route home from work. A change of scenery can do wonders for one’s perspective. Do you crave a bigger change in surroundings? Plan a getaway, or just get in the car and drive to explore a different city a few hours away for the day. Feel like your weekends are full of chores and errands? Resolve to get that stuff done during the week so Saturday and Sunday are about relaxation and fun. Even something as small as treating yourself to fresh flowers for the living room can lift your mood. Feeling the need for a connection? The next time you say to someone, let’s have lunch or let’s grab a drink sometime, follow through with a day and time.
Whatever you do, resolve to find a way to make 2025 more fun and more enriching than the previous year. That resolution can also bring out the best version of ourselves, but in a much more pleasurable way.
And if you do make any kind of resolution, I’d love to hear from you. Let me know how it worked out by emailing me at mdamiano@biscaynetimes.com.