Miscellaneous

So You Say You Want A Resolution

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Did you ever wonder how New Year’s resolutions began? I never really gave it any thought so I checked it out and learned it was a religious thing. Wiki tells us the ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year.

During a massive 12-day religious festival, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favor – a place no one wanted to be. Babylonia, however, was short-lived; the empire fell apart and reverted to a small kingdom for several centuries.

Hmm, so much for grand gestures and good intentions.

I never saw the point in making a resolution on New Year’s Eve in front of all my friends when I knew there was a good chance I wasn’t going to keep it. Why put so much pressure on myself? That’s not being negative; it’s being realistic. Besides, no one really cares about someone else’s resolution unless it involves them.

As I sit here writing this, I can honestly say I can’t think of a single New Year’s resolution that I kept, so why bother? No matter how old I get, I am still a work in progress in need of regular maintenance and tune ups. Every day comes with a new chance to improve myself in some way …. and with a much greater success rate than making a big resolution on New Year’s Eve.

To everyone who makes a resolution tonight and sticks with it, I say “Congrats to you!” To those who aren’t as successful, welcome to the club – the human league. It’s a large group and you’re in the fine company of those with good intentions. As for me, I promise not to make any resolutions (and that’s a promise I can keep).

The last few years have been incredibly challenging; 2024 was extremely difficult for me and my family but I know there are still many reasons to be thankful and optimistic. Here’s to a grand New Year’s Eve; let’s kick 2024 to the curb and greet 2025 with renewed determination for a great year!

Happy New Year’s Eve to all! ✨🥂🎊

~ Nancy

NAR©2024

This is “Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy ~ The Sicilian Storyteller, Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

36 thoughts on “So You Say You Want A Resolution”

  9. No wonder new year resolutions never work! I’ve always had to change my plans in the course of the year or come up with totally new ones, and those are the ones I fulfil. Dang, I’ll never have new year resolutions again.

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