A old road can still mean new beginnings. (Provided photo — Diane Chase)

I’m very serious about my New Year’s resolutions. I may not complete each one, but I do look at Jan. 1 as a day of new beginnings. I want my resolutions to be an opportunity to look at the world differently and improve myself. Someone reminded me, more than once, of a Mark Twain statement, “Insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” (Perhaps I can get it stitched on a pillow.) We can address my sanity at another time.

I have a different outlook. A new year’s resolution gives me hope. I get to glimpse into the future of my own doing. I get to reflect on past mistakes and be better.

The history of New Year’s resolutions possibly started with ancient Babylonians over 4,000 years ago. Their year began with a spring celebration, making promises to themselves and their gods to right wrongs and be better. Rome’s Julius Caesar moved the new year to January, named for Janus, the god of beginnings and endings. The Romans believed Janus’s two faces have one looking back into the past and the other looking forward into the future. The Romans would make sacrifices to the deity (Thankfully, we don’t keep all traditions, right?) and promise to be on the best behavior.

Making resolutions may have had its spiritual beginnings but has evolved into what we know today. We make promises and possibly break promises on a path to self-improvement. It is always a journey toward progress.

I won’t write all my New Year’s resolutions here. I’m sure there are many of us with the same weary list. The biggest thing I hope to accomplish is not losing faith in people. I want to listen more and be helpful with what I learn from listening. Of course, I’d also like to have someone else feel compelled to eat the rest of the cookies or remember where I hid the Christmas chocolate. I’m not sure those fit into the resolution category or remain on the deskside sticky note.

I wish you all a happy, safe, and prosperous 2022.