Tomorrow is the last day of 2015. Have you thought about things you had done, places you had been and people you had encountered this year? How was your outline of 2015? Do you have a new year’s resolution list of 2016? Do you know why people wish something or make promises while entering a new year? Do you know that our new year resolutions’ origin have deep roots in the ancient cultural rituals?
These are four historical or rather ancient roots that have led to what we know today as New Year’s Resolution.
First, In Babylon that was an ancient city from the period of Akkadian Empire circa 2300 BC in Mesopotamia, people made promises to their gods to clear their debts and to give back borrowed objects at the beginning of each new year.
Second, During Roman Empire circa 27 BC – 395 AD, people started each year with giving promises to their god, Janus from which January borrows its name. It is the god of beginnings and transitions. He has double faces, one looks to the future and the other looks to the past.
The list can be extended by some other examples from different cultures and religions. At the end of each year, people’s habit for making a new year’s resolution list is the modern outcome of all these traditions. From my point of view thinking about your previous year, making reconciliation with yourself and setting up new goals for the year ahead is very useful and refreshing.
So let’s close our eyes for a minute and think about what we would like to experience in the next year?
Let me share my answer with you. I would like to step on unknown and hidden locations in the world and discover more and more 🙂
