By Angelica Mozol, Social Media Manager
With another year kicking off, starts another round of “new year, new me” resolutions. It’s the beginning of the year where everyone decided to become better versions of themselves by going to the gym, eating healthier or aiming for that 4.0 GPA. Sometimes New Year’s resolutions are met while other times it ends before the month is over. Realistically, by the time the end of the year hits, everyone stays true to the “new year, new me” mentality one way or another, more so in ways that aren’t even remotely close to those resolutions.
According to History.com, New Year’s resolutions started about 4,000 years ago with the ancient Babylonians who made promises to the gods to “pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed.”
It was also believed that their new year did not begin in January, but in mid-March when the crops were planted. Fast forward to ancient Rome, where a similar practice was held and that is when Jan. 1 was established as the beginning of the new year. January was named after the two-faced god Janus, who the Romans believed “looked back into the previous year and ahead into the future.” Then for early Christians, New Year’s was reworked into the “traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes” and aiming towards improvement for the future.
“[New Year’s resolutions are] possible to create with high expectations than the amount of time and effort put in,” Assistant to the Director of Student Health & Psychological Services, Laura Castillo said.
She explained her own views on New Year’s resolutions where they are only deemed successful if they are meaningful. For example, if someone expresses that they would want to lose 10lbs the following question would be if that person has the tools to accomplish that goal?
Some have expressed their New Year’s resolutions have fallen through due to not gaining any immediate results or progress, a lack of motivation to start, financial or personal issues or simply just giving upon them. According to a study by the University of Scranton, just 8 percent of people achieved their goals while 80 percent have kept them.
Nevertheless, nobody can place the blame on anyone as the holidays do tend to take a toll on most people financially, mentally and physically. So the longing for a better year is the most understandable decision once the New Year comes around. There are others who have decided to not even bother with the idea of a resolution and just hope for a better year.
“New Year’s resolutions have gotten to a point where to me have become meaningless,” psychology major, Jenna Tran said. “I just go about the year hoping for the best.
Whether one is part of making new year’s resolutions or don’t care much for it, a new year is still going to be filled with a lot of accomplishments and maybe some bumps along the way; Regardless, it’s still a part of the crazy life that doesn’t define us.
