Well, perhaps I am being a little over zealous, but the sentiment could indeed help us all achieve a world in which we see healthy, slim, smoke free, charitable human beings recycling to their hearts content. Because these are of course the top New Year's Resolutions people will be making this winter. I, myself, am no exception, this year, with an air of Bridget Jones about me, I am resolved to go to the gym and not eat a single molecule of chocolate even if Willy Wonka himself were to offer me a Wonka Bar. There is nothing profound or original about my choices and they are essentially selfish, however I adore the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions, for me it shows a willingness and wanting to be a better person.
Janus was a mythical Roman king who, as the story goes, in 153 B.C. was given the arduous task of organising the calendar, luckily for him he had two faces, one to look back at the past and one to look forward. Each year the people of Rome would bring gifts to Janus for the sins of the previous year and make promises to be better in the next year, in return, it was believed that Janus would bless them for the entire year. When the calendar was changed from March to January 1st in 46 B.C. by Julius Cesar legend foretold that at 12 midnight on the 31st December Janus could see both the previous and forthcoming year at the same time people began making their resolutions that day to so their sincerity.
New Year swapped from March to January a number of times before it was finally settled on January 1st in the sixteenth century by Pope Gregory XIII, who being Catholic and all, dropped the tale of Janus but kept the resolutions. Today I would go so far to say that even the most atheist of us could dabble at a little personal betterment.
Our popular resolutions now are not what you would consider 'sins', although some of the cakes I've eaten are so good they simply have to be the work of the Devil, but perhaps they point to general trends in our society that are not exactly virtuous.
As a nation the UK is getting fatter, it is a common fact heaved round whenever there is a slow news day, so the resolve to be healthier should come as no surprise.Neither then should quiting smoking, getting oneself out of debt given the current economic conditions or aiding the environment by battling against the never ending peril of climate change, but what of being more charitable? According to the annual citizenship survey in 2009 only 26% of people took up some form of official voluntary work, a number which has been in decline for the past five years. This must put incredible strain on a sector of society that will increasingly have to pick up the mess the public sector is sending their way, a 'big society' can only hold up as big as its' volunteering mass.
Volunteering has so many benefits to society as a whole and to make it one of your personal resolutions this year is not just for yourself which is why alongside my pledges to the gym and a chocolate free life I am going to make a commitment to volunteer for a better future and a better me.
