Another year has come and like always, I am late to welcoming it. This is why I am thankful I have five opportunities for a new start throughout the year, because I always seem to mess up the first one.
The first is obvious, it’s January 1st. The beginning of a new dawn, a new day. New Years signifies a clean slate where you can grow and become this ideal version of yourself. Everyone has resolutions that fit into a perfect life, but the reality is that this aspirations fade away by February. I think it’s because we put too much pressure onto January. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than we ever have before and are surprised when we are unable to meet that bar. January always feels like a disappointment to me. I try to reinvent my entire being in 31 days and I always fall short of longevity.
The second is my favorite, the Lunar New Year. My family and I follow most of the same Chinese traditions on both New Years, but Lunar New Year holds more meaning to me. It’s not just the red envelopes filled with cash that make it my favorite, but because it isn’t about changing myself to be perfect, instead it is about welcoming a new year that is filled with prosperity and good things. It’s about family and togetherness, health and well-being. Not only is it a time for me to embrace my culture and eat incredible food, but it is also a time for me to get a second chance at a new year.
The third is woven in here, simply because it is coming up in three days, my birthday. Now I know what you’re thinking, a birthday isn’t that monuments in terms of a “new year”, but I beg to differ. Birthday’s are the best time to reinvent yourself AND there's no pressure to do so because no one really expects you to. January 1st is when everyone decides to take charge and change their lives, Lunar New Year is about welcoming the year so it will bring you good things, but your birthday is all about you. It’s about celebrating you. You embrace everything you’ve been and everything you’re about to become, which is why I see it as the opportune time to write resolutions. Birthday goals. I still haven’t figured mine out yet, but I know they’re going to be good.
The fourth is intertwined with my birthday in a sense. As a Catholic, I find Lent to be one of the most productive “New Years”. Technically, it isn’t the start of anything new per say, but it is a dedicated time period that is all about self-reflection and development. This is exactly why it is my favorite time in the church. To me, it’s like what actual New Year’s wishes it was. It’s about resolutions, time to change and grow, but it’s about longevity and working beyond the 40 days and nights. Lent is focused on finishing it a better person internally than you were at the beginning.
Finally, we come to the last “new year”. Advent. This is what I like to take as my last ditch effort to have a “new start". Again, it is a Catholic thing, but it is technically the beginning of the Catholic calendar, as it is the four weeks leading up to Christmas. I love it because it is simple and adds a little something more to the hectic ness of the holiday season.
So those are my five New Years days, so far I think I’m 0/2 in terms of really making the most of them this year, but I plan to get at least one win in.