New Year...so what?

January 2005 - New Year...so what?

(Inspired by Rev. Gareth Hughes of Holy Trinity Church, Dilton Marsh)

I have been finding it difficult to muster up my normal enthusiasm for New Year.

In recent years I have set aside time during December to look back over the preceding 12 months, assess my accomplishments and disappointments and draw out lessons which will help me grow as a person over the year ahead.  I have always found this very useful. It gave me a sense of purpose, focus and completion so I was able to enter the New Year free of baggage.

So why don't I want to do it this year?

Perhaps it is because the whole idea of "New Year, New You" seems rather arbitrary. After all, if I was incapable of going to the gym 4 times a week during 2004, why would I be able to do it in 2005?

New Year comes but 8 times a year...

There are many "New Years".  April 5th is the start of the new financial year and the beginning of September often feels like a new year because of our connection with the start of the school year. Throughout English history the date of the New Year has changed (it has been on Christmas Day and the 25th of March as well as the 1st of January). The Jewish New Year is in October and the Muslim and Chinese New Years will be in February this year. So is the one on January 1st meaningless?

If it works for you...

The fact is that we all like the idea of "making a new start". I used to enjoy opening a new exercise book at the start of the school term. I get the same feeling today when I start reading a new novel. And, endings are satisfying too. Finishing a report for work and sending it off to be printed, logging off the computer at the end of the day, arriving at my destination after a long drive...It is comforting to put a full stop somewhere and then start a new sentence.

But the choice about when you do this is yours. You may feel enthusiastic about making a momentous decision which takes effect on January 1st. But you may also make a big decision in mid-February. You may decide that the 13th of June feels like the day to close one chapter of your life and start the next.

The mistake that many of us make is to think that we only have one chance to make a change, and if we miss it, or fall at the first hurdle, then we have to wait a whole year to have another go.

Don't use New Year as an excuse to delay or let yourself off the hook. If you have a great idea in August, you don't need to wait until January to put it in to effect. And if you fall off the wagon on the 2nd of January, there's no reason you can't get back on it on January 3rd. 

In truth, a "new you" is developing every day. And every day you have the opportunity to make a decision or take an action which will change your experience of life.