Did you make a resolution or resolutions for this New Year?

I used to but that was a long time ago. So long ago I don’t even remember what resolutions I made and if I ever kept them.

It’s not a bad idea, though, to resolve to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve one’s life.

Is this tradition world wide? It is not but almost so.

It originated in Babylonia, pre-539 BC, when the people there made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts.

More well known is the Romans from the 8^th century BC, who each year made promises to the god Janus

This was later adopted by the Medieval knights who took the “peacock vow” at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.

On New Year’s Eve I was at Elmslie Church, one member of a packed congregation, to their Watchnight Service. There we thanked God for bringing us through another year and made promises we would TRY to be better Christians.

A pretty poor resolution really. I was going to try…

My wife, Joan, thinks I am trying’ most of the time!!

Scanning the Internet the most popular resolutions are these:

Improve physical well-being: eat healthy food, lose weight, exercise more, eat better, drink less alcohol, quit smoking, stop biting nails, get rid of old bad habits

Improve mental well-being: think positive, laugh more often, enjoy life

Improve finances: get out of debt, save money, make small investments

Improve career: perform better at current job, get a better job, establish own business

Improve education: improve grades, get a better education, learn something new (such as a foreign language or music), study often, read more books, improve talents

Improve self: become more organized, reduce stress, be less grumpy, manage time, be more independent, perhaps watch less television, play fewer sitting-down video games

Take a trip

Volunteer to help others, practice life skills, use civic virtue, give to charity, volunteer to work part-time in a charity organization

Get along better with people, improve social skills, enhance social intelligence

Make new friends

Spend quality time with family members

Settle down, get engaged/get married, have kids

Pray more, be more spiritual

Be more involved in sports or different activities

Spend less time on social media (such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr etc.)

The history of success in keeping resolutions is extremely poor.

A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning.

I hope that fact doesn’t deter you.

My excuse for not making at least one resolution:

I’m too old. My memory isn’t good enough to remember what it was. I can’t even remember if I do have any undesired traits or behavior……