Happy new year (I dislike special occasions)

Saturday 1 January 2005 — This is nearly 20 years old. Be careful.

Happy New Year everyone!

I have to say this about New Year’s Day though: I don’t like special occasions, for two reasons:

  1. There’s pressure to do something special with it.
  2. There’s inertia not to do something special with other days.

For example, everyone’s making resolutions today. Why today? Shouldn’t we be introspective and purposeful the rest of the year? Why can’t I make resolutions on February 5th or October 18th? Everyone tries to make their birthday special by doing just what they want to do. Why can’t I do what I want to do every day?

And since we’ve just left the Christmas season, how about maintaining a little good will toward others the whole rest of the year? Hallmark shouldn’t dictate our mood.

So my resolution for the new year: treat every day as special, regardless of the position of the Earth in its travels around the sun.

Comments

[gravatar]
Hassan Voyeau 2:15 PM on 3 Jan 2005
That's the point though, you can't do everything everyday. It's impossible to be good all the time and sometimes it takes special occasions to remind us of things we should do. It's human nature.
[gravatar]
Ned Batchelder 2:28 PM on 3 Jan 2005
Yes, I've been thinking about my use of the word "every" in that last sentence. It should really be:

So my resolution for the new year: be open to treating any day as special, regardless of the position of the Earth in its travels around the sun.

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