This is the time when everyone reflects on the year that was and says, “What a dumpster fire, can’t wait for the new year.”
It’s as if people believe because they flip a calendar or write the incorrect year for the next few weeks that it symbolizes something, I dunno, new. It doesn’t.
It’s no different than resolutions that people make. You know what they are: exercise more, eat better, stop smoking, save money, blah blah blah. People use the new year as motivation and a ticking clock, almost seeing it as punishment or a jail sentence. “Only two more days of eating garbage before I start having salads.”
I’ve always had the feeling that if something is important and you can change it, you act now. What makes Jan. 1 so special? If it’s June 23 and you decide to get fit for summer, that’s wonderful.
American fitness chain, Equinox, took heat for posting “We Don’t Speak January” directed at the new year’s resolution crowd, halting new gym memberships to its clubs on Jan. 1. The company essentially said resolutions are stupid and don’t work.
Every year between Christmas and new year’s, I look back at the photos on my phone. Whether I took a wild vacation or just had a night out with friends that we're still talking about, I slowly scroll through the year. I laugh at the funny times and pause at the sad times.
Of course, every year has bad moments but why do we dwell on those and have them overshadow what was a good time?
I don’t understand why we’re so hung up on Dec. 31 as being the end and Jan. 1 as being a breath of fresh air. After all, remember when year 1 of the pandemic ended and everyone was optimistic about the next calendar year? How big of a letdown was that?