But wait a minute, while it is true that in relation to the sun we may have been at the same spot, both the sun and the earth were probably in another place in the galaxy, perhaps a location “where we had never been before” (didn’t we hear those words a bit ago on television’s Star Trek?)

So it is not a surprise that we choose that same relational spot in the universe to stop everything we are doing, have a drink of something or other and declare our new resolutions, kind of our new us. “Bah, Humbug,” as Charles Dickens would say. We take inventory of our frailties and pronounce them done. Change is on its way.

So today, fifteen days into the so-called “new year” where are our resolutions? To start with, I presume that there were many. Some folks have given up: they are the same day in, day out. No hope for a change; they don’t care. So, let’s see. Are you still on your new diet? Eating less? Eating better? How about not lighting up? Is the old cigarette lighter in the trash or is it trashing your lungs or your loved ones’ instead? Forty years ago I stopped smoking for the first time and threw away my lighter. Bad decision: had to retrieve it in panic from the trash the following morning before the rubbish collectors showed up. But don’t feel bad about me. A year or so after that I stopped inhaling the smoke for good. Bless the Lord!

Then, there is the matter of relationships, the dependent ones I mean. Have the abuses stopped? How about the drinking? Have we stopped being mean persons to those we love or love us? Are we really and honestly into this New Year thing? Well, don’t despair, help is on the way.

I hate to sound like Dr. Seuss’ famous Grinch; this the one who stole the New Year for you. You know I never start a conversation about anything unless I have something deeply in mind; or tricky. I have done some homework. I started to surf around the net looking for some information about the custom of celebrating the New Year and found plenty. There is a place called www.Infoplease.com that provided a mouthful. The comments that follow were mined form there. It seems that for a planet that has been around for many millions of years, “the celebration of the new year on January 1st is a relatively new phenomenon. The earliest recording celebration of a New Year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia around 2,000 years Before the Common Era (BCE.)” We seem to be concentrating in the recently created Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas controversy and have lost sight of a more important politically correct decision that has seeped into our literature for a while longer. Folks no longer use BC and AD to mean Before Christ and Anno Domini when they refer to our years. Now we use Before the Common Era (BCE) instead of BC and Common Era (CE) instead of AD. That does not seem to bother anybody so it is not going to bother me either.

Now, if I am going to treat you like a real Clint Eastwood and make your day, let me remind you what Mesopotamia really means: “In ancient times, the Greeks gave that name to the world’s first civilization. The word Mesopotamia in Greek means ‘land between the rivers.’ And the rivers were the Tigris and Euphrates.” You and I (I hope) know that area by the name of Iraq. So the Iraqis, even 4,000 years before they had the bad luck of having a dictator by the name of Saddam Hussein (never mind the invasion) celebrated the New Year. Please, tell me that you knew that.

But then “the new year was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox (the arrival of spring) in mid-march.” Others in the Middle East had a different idea of what they should do with their celebrations and not to be outdone by the Iraqis chose the fall equinox instead. That, of course, is around September 22nd, six months earlier. Or, is it six months later? Well, I hate to sound trite, but that depends on your point of view. The Greeks would not buy any of that and decided on the winter solstice instead, which is around December 22nd. So here you have it; have your choice. Are we having New Year fun yet?

But wait; don’t leave the Romans out of this quandary. In their early calendar March 1st was designated as the beginning of the New Year and, this is the best part, “the calendar had just ten months. Even the current names of the months support those facts: septem is Latin for “seven,” octo is “eight,” novem is “nine,” and decem, the last, is “ten”.” Is it any wonder that Methuselah is said to have lived over seven hundred years? Who counted the time right?

The first time the New Year was celebrated on January 1st was in Rome in 153 BCE and the New Year was moved from March to a new month, January, who was followed by another new kid on the block, February. That was good for me, because I was born in February and I could not have been born if that month had not been around, comprende? Julius Caesar gave this new date its imprimatur and from then on you and I have a reason to make these silly New Year resolutions that go nowhere in the last day of December. Let’s agree to blame the Romans.

So relax, there is no need to feel shame or disappointment. Forget about the New Year. As I said to you in my introduction, it is a fantasy; it is unreal. Think of your resolutions and your life as an everyday occurrence, today and tomorrow. Decide and plan to be the best you want to be and just do it every second of your life. There is no need to make promises, just to make things happen. We have not been given a mind just to make plans; it is there to carry them out as well. Someone whose name I don’t recall said that the first thing the newly developed human brain did when it first became aware of itself was to ask: “Who am I?” The second was: “Who are you?” That was the start of the first human relationship. Don’t you think it is time to realize that the answer is in that better person you want to be? Congratulations. Your future has arrived; it is here today. Have a happy New Year the way you are. That will be all gravy.

And that is my point of view today.

Dr. Montesino, solely responsible for this article, is the Editor of LatinoWorldOnline.com and Senior Lecturer in the Computer Information Systems Department at Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts.
 

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