OUTSIDE THE BOX – by Mattieu Ramsawak
‘No Year’s Resolution’

“New Year's Eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.”  ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie

It has become customary for people young and old, big and small, of all customs and cultures, to make New Year’s resolutions. They make silent promises to themselves to drop old habits, develop “good” new ones, to do things that they should’ve done already, to never again do things that they have already done. As the old year draws to an end they all sit in quiet introspection, reminiscing on the memories of the past year, contemplating all the good and bad things that have happened over twelve months, wondering what the new year has in store for them, what trials they may face, what triumphs they may gain, what tragedies they may endure, what blessings they may receive. They then make private vows, personal pledges about how they want to live their lives for the next year. They convince themselves that, come 12:00 am on January 1 st, they will change.

I have always wondered why people always made such a big deal about New Year’s resolutions. Why is it that they wait until the start of a new year to strive to make changes to their lives? According to a psychology professor with whom I was discussing the matter, the transition from the old year into the new one is symbolic. It is seen as a chance to wipe the slate clean, to start afresh and anew, to put the wrongs of the past behind and look to the future. It serves as the starting point to the rest of your life. The logic behind this is easy enough to understand. It gives people a timeframe to work with. I’ll stop smoking in the New Year. Come the New Year, I’ll stop biting my nails. From next year, I’ll remember to leave the toilet seat up. My New Year’s resolution is to stop swearing. I’ll change everything that needs changing, fix everything that needs fixing in the new year.

I have issues with making New Year’s resolutions. While many people see the New Years resolution as the perfect chance to make changes, I see it as the perfect tool for procrastination. Indeed, making a new years resolution can be downright paradoxical; making a solemn promise to something that you know deep down you aren’t going to do. Resolving to do something is the perfect way to put off doing it, especially since you probably don’t want to do it anyway. How many times have you ever made a resolution that you have actually kept?

To be fair, not all people make resolutions that they don’t intend to keep. Many people make genuine promises that they hope they will be able to follow through with. Some of them manage to keep these resolutions. However, there is nothing to say that these changes are made as a result of making a new year’s resolution. There is nothing special or magical about a New Year that makes people make much wanted or much needed changes in your life. The start of a new year is simply a modification to a calendar, the updating of a datebook, the beginning of the Earth’s next complete revolution around the sun.

The point I am trying to make here is that one should not decide to make changes in his/ her life simply because they are entering a new year. A change should be something that one desires for oneself, that one sees as necessary for the betterment of one’s own experiences. That being said, one should be willing to make modifications to one’s life and to one’s habits whenever they are needed. It should not matter what time if the year it is, whether it is New Year’s Eve or the middle of summer, a resolution should not be something that you make as a fashion just because other people are doing it; it should be made because you have a deep desire to make a change in your life and should be irrespective of time or date. One should not hesitate to make a Summer Resolution, or a July 13 th resolution, or any other date for that matter, once one sees the need to make a change. After all, life is not a guarantee; you never know if you will even live to see the New Year.