Bottom of the News… Friday, January 8, 2010

Good morning my fellow Rotarians and Happy New Year! I’ve made it a tradition of starting each Rotary News Year by sharing New Year’s resolutions with you. You did know that anything you do more than once qualifies as a tradition, right? Anyway… let’s start with the history of New Year’s resolutions…

It is said that this tradition of making New Year's Resolutions was started by early Babylonians. Their #1 resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment so they could begin the new year with a clean slate. Some believe that resolutions were once promises made to the Gods, in the hope that the Gods would grant them some favor in return, such as a good harvest. It was also believed that breaking a resolution brought bad luck on the individual hence one was advised to be careful while making New Year's Resolutions.

Today the most popular resolutions are about improving one’s health, looks, eating better and/or exercising more to lose weight. Other very popular, and the most often broken resolutions, are to quit smoking and drinking. The most common resolutions are dealing with better money management, saving more and reducing debt.

Half of Americans make resolutions each year and yet those promises seem to fade quickly. Typically, after one week 25% have dropped off, in one month 40% are gone and within 3 months, 70% of all resolutions are forgotten.

So, are you sick of making the same resolutions year after year that you never keep? Why not find some things that you can feel good about accomplishing? Things that aren’t hard to do! Here are some ideas to help you get started...

• Read less.
  
• Watch more TV.
• Spend more time at work.
• Don't jump off a cliff just because everyone else did.
• Stop bringing lunch from home, eat out more.
• Get into a whole NEW rut!
• Start being superstitious.
• Take a vacation to someplace important, like, to see the world’s largest ball of twine or the international SPAM museum.
• Gain weight, at least 30 pounds.
• Make it a personal goal to bring back disco.
• Stop exercising; it’s a waste of your time.
• Procrastinate more, starting tomorrow.

There you go, resolutions you can feel good about! Right?!? Hey, let’s have some fun this year as we start a new decade! Happy New Year from the Bottom of the News on this Friday, January 8, 2010!

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