Reflect, Celebrate
and Ready Yourself for
Action
By Scott Allen, MD Nearly 4,000 years ago, the ancient Babylonians were the first people to record a “New Year’s resolution.” Instead of January, their celebration was held in March—the beginning of the planting season. They renewed promises to their king and their gods with the hope that they would be blessed with a bountiful harvest. They cast their individual wants aside and aligned in a twelve-day festival.
Millenia later, in a display of hubris befitting the emperor of the known world, Julius Caesar realigned the calendar into our current Roman calendar. In so doing, he named the first month after Janus, the double-faced god of gates and doors. Janus held the key between what was and what is to come, simultaneously reflecting on the past and presiding over all beginnings. 66 www.sghealthandwellnessmagazine.com
Today, the tradition of New Year’s resolutions has morphed into a mostly secular ritual of self-improvement, usually focused on physical well-being. 45 percent of us make resolutions, but only 8 percent of us follow through.
This isn’t a failure of human discipline. It’s a failure of the modern resolution ritual. When given the means to complete a task, humans are generally competent. If your resolution is to exercise more, lose weight, stop an unpleasant habit, or otherwise make a big change— resolutions that we are poorly-equipped to execute—chances are you’re doomed to fail.
But I have some good news: as your friendly community physician, I’m here to tell you you’re already doing OK. If you live in southern
