Evaluated Perspective 1/5/18

Why do we celebrate the new year on January 1st? It seems very arbitrary to me. As it turns out there are several reasons we “start over” on January 1st. Over the millennia there have been several changes to the calendar to become what we know it as today. There was a Julian calendar created by Julius Caesar in Rome, which is why we have a month called “July” for Julius and “August” in honor of his successor Augustus. Following that we had the Gregorian calendar commissioned by Pope Gregory the XIII, which we use today that corrected a few mistakes in the Julian calendar. More information than you wanted?

There’s no astronomical reason to celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1. Instead, our modern New Year’s celebration stems from the ancient, two-faced, Roman god Janus – for whom the month of January is also named. One face of Janus looked back into the past, and the other peered forward to the future. So we should credit Janus with the idea of looking back over the past year, to reflect on the good the bad and the ugly, and to prepare for the future.

I don’t really make any New Years resolutions, but it is a good time to stop for a moment to do just as Janus has shown. Let me say it this way, Experience is not a great teacher, EVALUATED experience is a great teacher. Reflect on the experience of the past year and evaluate it. What was good, what was not-so-good, what could have been done better, what needs to change? What did you do that was good, or great, what were the “wins” of the previous year, celebrate those.

Actually, our New Years routine of evaluating the past and planning for the future should be a daily event. No need to make a resolution to break within days or weeks, but a determination to understand and evaluate today and plan for a better tomorrow.

I’m looking forward to a great year, I hope you are as well. Remember that the difference between a mediocre year and a great year, all depends on your perspective.