No Year’s Resolutions

As is the common fashion, the end of 2012 brought with it the gleaming, shimmering beacon of hope that is the New Year. 2013. The year after the world was supposed to end. Each year, as January rolls around you can count on one thing being constant; the fabled ‘New Year’s Resolution’.

This is the gallant decision made by millions of people each year to better themselves in some way, big or small, to make sure that this year is their year. Now before I go any further, let me just be clear on something – I am not bashing resolutions or deciding to make changes. If you’ve decided that you’re definitely going to start going to the gym, give up beer and only eat goji berries to get in shape for next year’s SSB then great, or if you’re finally planning to tell that special person how you really feel about them, then good for you. What gets me is this idea that the only time you can make these changes is when the New Year rolls around.

Missed January 1st? There’s still time to make some changes.

Sure, one digit on the year on your calendar changes, but this isn’t as big of a deal as it’s made out to be. All that’s happened is that the Earth has finished another lap around the Sun, which really doesn’t affect the lives of most people in any formidable way. There is literally no difference between the clock striking twelve on 31 st December and the midnight hour passing tonight. There isn’t a mystical hand that resets everything that you may have done wrong the year before just because the Gregorian calendar has finished another cycle. A new start shouldn’t depend on what date it is; don’t use the prospect of New Year’s as a reason to procrastinate for the other eleven months.

Realistically, we’re students, so the only dates that really matter to us are when term starts and ends. So if you haven’t made a resolution this New Year then fret not. Or if you did, but have already let it slip, don’t worry about it. You haven’t missed the boat on turning your life around. Ignore the flood of ‘New Year New Me’ Facebook statuses, and wait until February to kick start your plans, or maybe even March if you feel like having a bit more time to consider your options. At least that way you can be sure that there will be plenty of space in the gym, as the people who didn’t make it past the first week of January with their resolution to get ripped and give up Dominos decide that next year will be their time to shine instead.

On the other hand, you could make no changes whatsoever, and spend all the time you save doing everything you already do, just for a bit longer. Call it an ‘anti-resolution’ and enjoy keeping things the same. No pressure. But whatever you do, don’t wait around until we finish another loop of the sun to do it; just seize the day, whichever day that might be.