The start of a new year has a special significance to people all around the world. It is a time rich with history, traditions, and new beginnings.

Celebrating the New Year goes back 4000 years ago, but it didn’t begin in western cultures until only 400 years ago. The holiday began in ancient Babylonia around 2000 B.C. The Babylonians began their new year near the end of what is now March, a logical time to start a new year since winter was over, spring with its new life was beginning and crops were planted for the coming year.

However, in 153 B.C. the Roman senate decreed the New Year would begin on January 1. It made this decree to correct the calendar, which had become out of sync with the sun. The month of January gets its name from Janus, the two-faced Roman god who looks backwards into the old year and forwards into the new.

Making resolutions on New Year’s is as old as the holiday itself. The Babylonians would make resolutions, the most popular one being to return farm equipment! The ancient Romans also made resolutions for the New Year, their most popular one being to ask for forgiveness from their enemies. In the Medieval era, knights took the “peacock vow” at the end of the year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.

Now, people make resolutions to better themselves. Research says 40-45% of Americans make a New Year’s Resolution and those who do are 10 times more likely to meet their goal. USA.gov gives the following list as the top resolutions as well as helpful information to achieve those goals-

• Lose Weight
• Volunteer to Help Others
• Quit Smoking
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Save Money
• Get Fit
• Eat Healthy Food
• Manage Stress
• Manage Debt
• Take a Trip
• Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
• Drink Less Alcohol

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2015!

– See more at: http://www.bamsi.org/blog/2015/01/02/heres-2015/#sthash.yi1ad2kB.dpuf