Resolutions...made to be broken
New Year traditions dating back to Rome and Babylon lead people to look at the world with fresh eyes and, perhaps, find some way to improve themselves during the coming year.
The value and validity of the New Year’s resolution, however, varies widely from person to person.
“It’s a waste of time,” says Justin Wand from Leicester, UK, who spent the Christmas season visiting friends and family in Central Alberta.
Wand, 40, says he has not committed himself to a formal resolution for quite a long time, although he has made them in the past. Resolution or not, he feels he needs to be fitter and healthier — a common theme among people interviewed on Sunday for their thoughts on New Year resolutions.
Angus Thomson, 45, visiting from Florida, says he tries to make a New Year resolution every year, but has had varying levels of success at keeping them. By Sunday afternoon, he hadn’t yet given much thought to his resolution for 2013, stating that he would like to get rid of one bad habit — procrastinating.
Cassie Howdle of Red Deer said she has found that ideas for resolutions that seemed really great on Dec. 31 don’t necessarily hold as much appeal on Jan. 1.
“I’ll make one tomorrow and break it on the First,” said Howdle, who feels her philosophy regarding New Year resolutions is pretty much in line with that of other people. She said that a friend who works for a gym club has noticed that it attracts a great number of new members at the start of each year, but that most of them will have lost interest by the end of February.
Working on health and fitness is probably a fairly common theme for New Year resolutions says Scott Dowler of Innisfail, whose resolution for 2013 is to eat healthier foods and get more exercise.
Dowler, 40, said he made a similar resolution a few years ago and managed to keep at it for four years, but acknowledged, like Howdle, that most resolutions don’t seem to last much longer than New Year’s Day.
His 12-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, said she hasn’t made a resolution in the past, but has resolved in 2013 to become a better dancer.
Like her twin sister, Mikayla, Kaitlyn does a wide varieties of dance styles, which she hopes will lead her to a career that includes entertaining on cruise ships.
Time will tell.
bkossowan@reddeeradvocate.com
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