Another New Year has gone. My 76^th one. Can you guess how old I am?

No prize if you’re right. A dunce cap if you’re wrong.

I have a question for you? Actually, more than one.

Did you make any Resolutions this year?

Did you make any Resolutions last year? The year before? Etc.? Etc.?

Last question? How many did you actually keep?

No need to tell me. Let me guess. VERY FEW.

I don’t bother any more to make any. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I did make any New Year’s Resolutions.

However, I would seem to be in the minority. Every New Year, according to statistics, the majority of us make resolutions to better ourselves., even though, very quickly, we fail to keep up with them.

Where, upon Earth, did this yearly tradition start from?

According to my research, it was started 4,000 years ago in Babylon. It was promises the Babylonians made to their gods they worshipped every March during the first new moon after the Spring Equinox. The collective ceremonial events were known as the Akitu festival, which lasted 11 days. The festivities were dedicated to the rebirth of the sun god Marduk. The worshippers at the festival made promises in order to get on the right side of all of their gods. They felt this would help them start the new year off on the right foot.

Then along came the Romans and Julius Caesar who introduced the Roman Calendar that our modern day one is based on. Caesar declared January 1^st. the first day of the year to honor the god of new beginnings, Janus. The Romans celebrated the New Year by offering sacrifices to Janus.

The New Year Resolution traditions have continued since and continue all around the world.

The most popular resolutions are:

Lose weight/eat healthier

Get organized

Save more money

Quit smoking

Enjoy life

Spend more quality time with close friends and family members

Get—and stay—healthy

Learn something new

Help others pursue their goals

Find love

In 2012 Google launched a Resolution Map where people could add resolutions and see others adding theirs in real time. However, no matter how many people participated in Google’s project, only 9.2 percent of people were successful in keeping them.

Therefore, not all is lost. It does no harm to make them.

I will, alas, not bother to make any, EVER. I will continue on as before. And I am RESOLUTE about that.