New Year: Rebirth and resolutions

New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday, Charles Lamb said. It gives us the chance to start anew. Resolving to be better in the New Year is as old as civilization. The Babylonians 4000 years ago found occasion to return borrowed farm implements. The ancient Chinese repaid debts, and mended broken relations with friends and relatives.

Aptly the New Year symbol is a baby carrying a banner of the year. It supposedly began in Greece in 600 BC as part of celebrating the god of wine, Dionysus. The Greeks would parade a babe in a basket, depicting the god’s annual rebirth as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used infants as the symbol of rebirth.

January 1 became the start of the year in 46 BC, when Julius Caesar made a calendar that better reflected the seasons than previous ones had. The Romans named the first month after Janus, the mythical king with two faces, one in front and the other back of the head. Janus could look to both the past and the future, and so was the Roman symbol for resolution. On New Year’s they sought forgiveness from enemies and exchanged gifts with friends. Coins imprinted with Janus’ double face were favorite gifts.

Early Christians frowned upon New Year’s festivities as paganism. In the Middle Ages they changed New Year’s Day to December 25, the birth of the Christ Child. Then, it was moved to March 25, the day of the Annunciation by Archangel Gabriel to Mary that she would bear the Son of God. Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar on Feb. 24, 1582, and restored January 1 as the beginning of the New Year.

Modern Filipinos resolve to lose weight, spend less or stop smoking. But the way they boom firecrackers and booze all Eve’s night, it’s more like the New Year being a fresh start on their old habits.

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The Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions, according to a recent survey, are:

1. Spend more time with family and friends.

2. Exercise regularly and stay physically fit.

3. Diet and keep trim.

4. Quit smoking.

5. Enjoy life more, not necessarily by living it up, but being happy and healthy in body, mind and soul.

6. Quit drinking.

7. Get out of debt; spend wisely; stick to a budget.

8. Learn something new: change careers, reenroll in school, take up a hobby, read more.

9. Help others; do volunteer work.

10. Get organized — at home or work.

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A separate survey shows that most people forget their New Year’s promises by the first two weeks of the New Year. Almost everybody would have forgotten by midyear.

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Psychologists suggest five ways to keep your New Year’s pledges:

1. Aim low. Resolutions are easier said than done; so don’t shoot for the moon. Like, instead of declaring to yourself to shed off 30 pounds, be happy with ten or 15.

2. Don’t overload yourself. It’s hard enough to keep one promise; you don’t have to take on more. Like, if your pledge is to find a girlfriend or beau, maybe just losing weight would do the trick.

3. Tell everyone you know. Keeping your resolution(s) to yourself leaves you with only one person to egg you to strive on. There’s no shame in seeking help.

4. Reward yourself. Try Pavlovian conditioning. If you vowed to spend less and so shunned the shoe sale, buy yourself a steaming cup of cappuccino.

5. Start at the best time. Sometimes it’s impossible to fulfill your pledge right on New Year’s Day. Try other early days of the year, like Valentine’s on February 14, or the Chinese New Year on February 3.

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The toughest but worthiest self-improvements are of character. The Toastmaster’s Treasury Chest features this New Year’s verse, author unknown:

A little less impatient with those we deem too low;

A littler less of arrogance because of all we know;

A little more humility, seeing our worth is slight;

We are such trivial candles compared to stars at night!

A little more forgiving and swifter to be kind;

A little more desirous the word of praise to find;

The word of praise to utter and make a heart rejoice;

A little bit more careful to speak with gentle voice;

A little more true eagerness to understand each other;

A little more real striving to help a shipwrecked brother;

A little more high courage to each task that must be done;

These be our resolutions — and God help everyone!

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