I truly hope everyone in Ponoka had an enjoyable week no matter how it was spent. A few days off from work, delicious food and presents from but more importantly the presence of those I love, especially with the addition of my now 11 -month old niece, made this a Christmas I will cherish for years to come. My mother flew to Alberta to spend Christmas with us and was supposed to fly home on Dec. 27, but her flight which connected in Toronto was cancelled due to the backlogs we’ve been hearing so much about, so she will be able to stay here for another week and this week it’s time to prepare for a brand new year meaning it’s time to make a New Year’s resolution. As I was contemplating what I would publicly declare as my resolution, I began to wonder why we even make one at all? Where did this tradition originate? After conducting a thorough search on one of my favourite engines, I discovered the following. New Year’s Eve traditions date back to more than 2000 years ago. In 46 B.C., Julius Ceasar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had. He claimed Jan. 1 as the beginning of the New Year. The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the mythological 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 allowing him to simultaneously see into the future and look back at the past. At midnight on Dec. 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new so began seeking forgiveness from their enemies and exchanging presents on New Year’s Eve, often 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. The date differs in many cultures, but tends to be a time for us to look back into the past and attempt to improve our future by setting goals that better our lives in some way, however, statistically speaking, a study shows that 62 per cent of resolutions are broken. What will your resolution be this year if you so choose to make one? Will you have the desire and determination to follow through with it? Send in your resolutions along with your name and phone number for publication in the next edition of the Ponoka News and we will check back with you at a later date to see if you achieved your goal or are continuing to strive towards it! This year I have two resolutions and you’ve heard of them before but this year I’m following through with them. The first is to eat healthier and exercise more. While I feel healthy and happy now, there is a great deal of heart disease in my family so ridding my body of 15-20 lbs certainly won’t hurt. My second resolution is to be as kind as I can to the new people I meet and show patience and kindness to the ones I’ve known for a very long time. At stores during the holiday season, lineups were long and delays occurred. No one likes to stand in line and wait twenty minutes for a price check, but that is no excuse for people to get angry at a cashier for circumstances far beyond his or her control. A few simple words or a gesture, be it a smile and a compliment or a frown and a complaint, has the ability to change someone’s entire day. So why not try to make someone’s day better than worse?
Have a great time ringing in the New Year and stay safe.