The New Year

We put a lot of emphasis on the new year. It’s a fresh start, a new beginning, a time to set goals – we say to ourselves, “THIS year will be different.” I think a lot of this messaging is toxic. It encourages us to set our expectations much too high as if January has some sort of magical power to make us more determined and consistent than any other time of the year. 

I often get depressed in January. We’ve just been through the marathon of holidays that is the stretch of time from Halloween to New Year’s and I experience an excitement withdrawal of sorts. And there’s not all that much to look forward to this time of year. Sure there’s Valentine’s Day coming in mid-February, but unless you’re a romantic person in a happy relationship, that holiday can add to the depression. And if you don’t kick off the year with a bang it can feel like you’ve already failed for the year.

I am generally an optimistic person who believes in herself. Thus, I already set my expectations of myself and of the world quite high. This often leads to disappointment. I’m honestly used to it at this point. I think it explains my special brand of “optimistic yet depressed.” So when you already aim high and you combine it with all the New Year marketing telling you to be better, work harder – FIX YOURSELF! – It can get overwhelming. 

The “new year” is truly arbitrary. We operate under the Gregorian calendar that was originally created in 1582 to change the date of Easter because the Julien Calendar was off the solar year by 10 days and Easter was getting further and further from the spring equinox each year. And our Gregorian calendar is still flawed – we must celebrate a leap year every 4 years just to make it make sense. But just like anything else, like money, borders, royalty… time only has meaning because we give it meaning. 

Why have we given this specific time of year so much meaning? Why do we do this to ourselves every year? Why do we set goals and make plans that we know will fizzle out after a month, a week, a day?

The only reason I can come up with is hope. We simply have hope that this year will be better than the last. And hope is a beautiful thing. Research shows that hope can help reduce stress and motivate positive action.   

So, is it important to start your new workout routine/ your dry month /your diet plan on January 1st? I don’t believe so. But it IS important to have hope. Whether you’re working on a goal you set a few days ago, or a few years ago, may you continue to have hope.