the old & the new

With the new year approaching us in 48hours; i must say that many of us have been busy preparing for the upcoming event...

some of us will be heading our for parties... from simple gathering with friends to elegant parties of lavish evening gowns and cocktails... from 3 course dinner to simple mamak hang out nites..

from family dinners to friends chill out ... also there might be all night partying sessions at cities famous clubs... and many more plans which i simply cant explain...

gee.. new year always come with a resolution among us. no matter where we all go; what we do... who we end up with; who we decide to have party with... its the resolution of the upcoming new 365days that count...

and it doesn't matter how or what.. its the resolution that keeps us trying to be better beings; keeping us on track and achieving our goals.

The History of New Year's Resolutions

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the god Janus became more common New Year's gifts.

In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.

The Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar calendars. Some cultures have lunar calendars, however. A year in a lunar calendar is less than 365 days because the months are based on the phases of the moon. The Chinese use a lunar calendar. Their new year begins at the time of the first full moon (over the Far East) after the sun enters Aquarius- sometime between January 19 and February 21.

Although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year.

Ancient New Years

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, Babylonians celebrated the beginning of a new year on what is now March 23, although they themselves had no written calendar.

Late March actually is a logical choice for the beginning of a new year. It is the time of year that spring begins and new crops are planted. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.

The Romans continued to observe the New Year on March 25, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the New Year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar

No matter how successful one has been in following the resolutions in previous year, one makes fresh resolutions for the coming year with full determination and will. They say the starting days of New Year are the most crucial in order to plan for the entire year.... yup this is where we see how important planning is if we wana keep ourselves from sidetrack from our current goals & achievements. These are the days when most of the people sketch a graph or summarizes themselves for the whole year. And although some goals can appear difficult and impossible; but resolutions can be about materializing the things which one thought of is somewhat difficult but still some people manage to do so. Somewhat these resolutions provides a sort of direction to people to lead the coming year. Some of the most popular New Year resolutions are – losing weight, earning a good amount of money, paying debts, starting a good exercise regime and resolving conflicts. Some people also think of giving money in charity in the coming year. New Year Resolution Tips New Year resolution tips are should be easily available through many sources... From asking the wiser people to books to resources to Internet is one such source where you can find many New Year resolution tips. New Year is fast approaching – this is the time to make feasible New Year resolutions. Don't make such resolutions that are impractical and impossible to achieve. No point as when some find the impossibility to follow such resolutions; this is one reason that leads to more unhappiness; lack of confidence and limited inspiration in many people. New Year resolutions should be such that they are easy to follow. The simple rule is that – don’t expect too much from yourself. Try to find out what you can do easily and stick to them. Going out of the way to prove yourself to others is of no use. Not only will demotivate you further but deriving you from your greatest potential. Do get only achievable tips for New Year resolution. Another trick is using the buddy system. i think this will help you be always on-track too... Decide to do things that will make you a better human being and help you lead a more comforting life should be made the New Year resolutions. The bottom line is that – opt for improvements for the better in the coming year; and when you finally achieve them in December 2009; then there is a "real reason" to celebrate...