Every time a calendar year comes to a close and a new one begins we must celebrate New Years. To me this has always seemed like a strange holiday. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be happy for the new year, we just seem a little too enthused about it, or maybe I just haven’t seen enough years to understand.

It seems to be that you have two kinds of people who are over excited about celebrating New Years: those who had a great year and those who had a not so great year. People who have had a superb year take this opportunity to look back and say, “Hey look at all the great things I did this year, woo, next year I’ll do even more!!” People who haven’t had a great year generally just think of it as a new start.

Most people, no matter if they fit one of these groups or are just neutral about their year make resolutions. Most people only manage to keep for a week, like going to the gym. I think one problem with resolutions is people just make one without thinking how they’ll actually achieve it. Let’s say someone says they’ll get in better in shape this year. Well that’s a pretty common one, but most people think to do that they’ll just go to the gym everyday, which could work. Expect do they really have time for the gym everyday, do they have the motivation for it? Probably not. So instead of just making a common resolution put more thought into it and how you can fit it into your life.

Why do people wait until New Years to celebrate the good things, or start fresh, or make resolutions? If something good happens to you, celebrate it then and there. If things haven’t been great lately, decide that tomorrow, next week or next month will be a fresh start for you. If you feel like you need to do something want to do something, set your mind to it and do it. You don’t have to wait for the new year to celebrate or make changes.

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Photos by Naomi Gelberg-Hagmaier.