New Year's Resolutions at Abbeyfield Wessex
New Year's Resolution at Abbeyfield Wessex - why do we make resolutions every new year
We at The Abbeyfield Wessex Society hope you had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed sharing photos of our festive celebrations, at all our Houses, on our social media pages.
Now we heading towards the New Year. For many of us, this is the time of year when we start thinking of making resolutions. But have you ever wondered why we do this?
We often think making resolutions are a Western World concept and potentially a 19th century idea (a bit like Father Christmas and the Christmas tree). However, there is a long tradition of celebrating the new year and making resolutions, which many of us may not know!
The date January 1st was first adopted by the Romans in 46 BCE. The Romans decided to follow the Julian calendar named after their Roman Empire leader, Julius Caesar. However, the Romans also took the idea of new year resolutions from the ancient Babylonians. January, incidentally, was named after the Roman god, Janus. Janus was two faced – facing towards the new year and reflecting on the former year.
It is widely believed that the ancient Babylonians created the idea of new year’s resolutions 4,000 years ago – in 2000 BCE - where they hoped to appease their gods when planting crops and pledging loyalty to their kings.
Moving on to Medieval times, it was thought that the knights, each year, renewed their pledges to chivalry by laying hands on a peacock. However, even then, there was confusion over when the New Year began. So, around 1570 Pope Gregory XIII simply amended the year by dropping ten days and making January 1st the official start of the New Year.
New Year traditions have widely changed – from formal family gatherings in Victorian times to riotous partying into the 20th century. These days, for many, the purpose of New Year resolutions is to continue with your best practices and look to make changes to improve circumstances.
For many of our residents, they had to make a resolution to decide to change their retirement circumstances and way of living. Abbeyfield Wessex provides independent retirement living and removes the daily worries that life (post work) can bring. For a single, monthly fee you will enjoy fantastic accommodation, with home cooked meals served daily providing safe and warm community living. Come and visit our any of our Abbeyfield Wessex Houses based around Dorset and Hampshire. Make your retirement resolution today! Happy New Year