By: Taylor Napolitan
The year 2020 is finally wrapping up as the end of December is approaching. This was a year full of stress and the constant need to adapt to change. Hopefully, the new year will be better, and one way to help you achieve your goals is to set a New Year’s Resolution!
According to www.History.com resolutions started when the Babylonians held a celebration for the new year. These celebrations were held in March, when the crops were being planted. They made promises to their gods to pay their debts and return any objects that they had borrowed that year. If the people kept their word then they would have the gods give them a favor in the year to come; if not, they would fall out of the god’s favor. The early Christians created a tradition for the first day of the new year for one to think about their past mistakes to be better in the future, which created the resolutions.
Times are different now; we make resolutions so that we can have goals for the upcoming year. The Squire asked Eisenhower freshman, Winnifred Wolf, some questions about her relationship with the annual tradition. As an ambitious nine-year-old, Winnie was already making resolutions. She recalls memories from her childhood where she made the resolution to practice soccer more. When asked about whether she still makes New Year’s resolutions, Winnie shared, “Yes, I encourage myself to stay ambitious as I enter the New Year.” Winnie continued to say, “I try to, especially ones where I feel they affect my daily life, such as goals set for good grades and treating people with respect.”
Resolutions vary depending on the person; however, TLC did a research project to find out the top 10 most common New Year’s Resolutions. The top five of those are as follows:
- To lose weight. Studies show that about 38% of people have this as one of their resolutions.
- Get organized with your life. This also includes self-improvement and increasing your education.
- To save money. Many Americans find it harder to save money from the fast-growing economy.
- Live life to the fullest. Americans live fast paced lives where they often forget about the small things in life that really matter. Most people have this as a resolution to help remind themselves that they need to look at the overall wellness of life.
- Healthy eating habits. The development of food has changed making it harder and harder for people to choose to eat healthy food alternatives, as opposed to prepackaged or easy access foods.
Winnie does not remember when her first New Year’s Resolution was made, but she remembers hearing people talk about them and says that hearing these conversations most likely influenced her. She started making self-improvements for herself year-round. The best time to refresh these improvements is at the beginning of each year. Winnie’s goals for this year include staying on track with her grades, being more involved in her family life, and continuing to stay organized. Both her friends and family members make resolutions, and Winnie makes some of her resolutions with her family and friends to help her stay motivated. These resolutions involve helping with home and yard work with her parents and staying on top of studying with friends.
As the holidays are wrapping up, make sure you think of some resolutions before the new year starts!
The Squire 