The newness of each New Year gently calls us to re-think, re-evaluate, reorganize and re-plan to make small and

big dreams come true. Many people write and form New Years resolutions. Are you thinking about making the New Year a fresh start? Not so fast! Some say New Years resolutions are a waste of time as they are nothing more than a long list of "shoulds" that we don't take to heart. New Years Resolutions are easy to make but tough to keep. Often times, people make resolutions based on what other people want or what they feel society wants from them. That is, they make the resolutions they think they SHOULD, instead of making resolutions that are in line with their true divine desires. Resolutions are supposed to help us, make us feel better, and put us on the right track to self-help and self-improvement. Not to be a buzz kill, but really they are just a scam. More often than not, resolutions are just weak gestures that hold no weight after a week or two, particularly when it comes to dieting and working out. Call them what you will (goals, a plan, life changes, the program) they are still just resolutions. Apparently, the Babylonians started this whole annual tradition - they made resolutions to the gods in order to carry favour with them. Sure, said resolutions may have made the Babylonians good at arts and crafts, but look what happened to them in the end: They were sacked by the Hittites. My point is that there may be no point in making New Years Resolutions, so why start a brand new year off by putting this kind of counterproductive pressure on yourself? I once met with an old times friend in which we exchanged pleasantries after all the joys of meeting following our lost in contact since our early childhood days.
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It was all fun and excitement. During the course of our conversations, he asked me what my New Year resolutions would be for the pregnant 2011 at that time. Having perused my heart of heart, I came up with a decision which I told him. That resolution was that I was not going to make any New Year resolution for 2011. He asked what the problem was. I gave him this response: since I became of age that is to the age of reasoning, I have made litanies of New Year resolutions and these resolutions I do not put into practice. So, I have decided this year not to make any resolution. I set goals for the various New Years I have experienced but I also go with the flow of life imitating others and like the famous Philosopher in the history of philosophy would put it: imitator of an imitator. One of the breezy evenings of the late hours of the just concluded year 2010, I chatted online with a close friend of mine from the western part of our country, Nigeria during the summer holiday and he asked me what my New Year resolutions are. On the contrary a have none so I reported to that my close friend. He also asked why, but this time around I gave him a different response to that I gave to my childhood friend in the above illustration. The response I gave was that there is nothing like New Year resolutions and that what we have and call resolutions are merely wishes: I wish not to do this in this New YearI want to do this in this New Yearthese are wishes not resolutions. Because resolutions are promises made to stop all or any unjust act. And wishes are just yearnings or hopes which can be defaulted. So, for those who do not have resolutions we are all running the same track and field event. Perhaps making vocal resolutions helps to motivate you at the dawn of a new year. If so, you are a much better and stronger person than I am so Happy New Year and all the best to you. But if you are like most of other humans on earth, here is my advice: If you want to change something for the better, start to change it. If you want to do something positive, start to do it. Dont wait for
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society to tell you to do it. Some group of persons wait for January 1 of every year to roll around so they can do what almost everyone else does without fail: Make New Years Resolutions and then try to keep them. For if it happens that you could not keep them just kindly have a change of mind like the writer of this article. This is because it would pay you more and protect your dignity and without any spot or stain. And why would you want to do what everyone else is unsuccessfully doing anyway, no matter what time of the year? If I were to make a New Year Resolution, which I wont, it would be to make sure I do my own thing instead of succumbing to societal peer pressure and following the crowd. Because the crowd is doing this therefore I should do it. But this is not implicative in the Seminary. In a way of supporting the resolution scam, I will make a resolution to never make another pressure-filled, counterproductive New Years Resolution ever again. People, especially students (seminarians) are first-class in making resolutions on various things. Some would tell you that they want to resolve from rising brothers food in the refectory. I think they should really take this to heart and decease from this obnoxious and objectionable act. For some would even leave their tables to play away matches. A person from table 23 would leave his table for an exhibition match on table 45 even while his opponent is not around. As our Rector would always remind us; can you have a hair cut of someone in his absence? It is really pitiable and shameful. For this people alone I recommend they take a resolution. They would make this resolution at the beginning of a New Year then drop it just barely two weeks after. Then what is the need. But they can still have it anyway. For some they want to resolve from going out too often on Wednesdays. Some wants to talk less. These are just a few. The message is: if you cannot make resolutions and keep them, it is better to forget resolutions making and stop making wishes.
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