Barely three days ago, we experienced something truly catastrophically illogical: it was New Year’s Day.
For one of our most important holidays, somehow it was decided that it was a good idea to spend the day watching cheesy television hosts go on for hours about nothing while anxiously awaiting the time when we could finally be allowed to see the coveted Times Square ball drop a few feet.
Even if I suppose people love starting with a new slate every 365 days, how we actually celebrate this holiday still makes very little sense to me. The sheer number of mindless customs and traditions associated with it is staggering.
Sometimes the same people who so anxiously await the new year will wake up on the first day of it extremely hungover and irritated after a night of excessive partying. That is, of course, just idiotic.
If that’s not enough, people truly showcase their innovative side by coming up with a plethora of other meaningless traditions to partake in. Take the awkward midnight kiss, for example, and try to decipher some logical meaning behind that. And to top it all off, our media greatly aids us in perpetuating these ludicrous endeavors.
But to be fair, there are other things we do for New Year’s celebrations.
Of course, we also come up with a crazy number of resolutions that we all know we will fail miserably at fulfilling.
Not even this seemingly noble tradition will cause me to celebrate New Year’s Day at all. But I have decided to come up with my own New Year’s resolution. This year, after careful thought, I have decided that there is only one logical resolution for me to make.
This year I vow to stop making resolutions.
It’s easy enough. And best of all, I actually think I have a good chance at keeping it.
Surveys show us that resolutions fail anyway, as we see three out of four people generally not fulfilling their New Year’s vows.
Too often, New Year’s resolutions are too general or too ambitious. I am not suggesting we stop making goals. On the contrary, I believe goals are great things that help us accomplish a lot.
All I am asking for is that we do it more appropriately. New Year’s resolutions are just like every other tradition associated with that day: pointless and potentially damaging.
I just refuse to partake in that. Jan. 1, to me, is just like every new day, which is an event I am usually excited for. That’s more than enough for me.
