A LITTLE HISTORY OF NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS WORDS DANIELLE MUSTARDE

76 New year, new you? Why do we make resolutions, and how do we keep them?

78 Diary DIVA’s monthly pick of the best events

82 Horoscpe What have the stars got in store for you?

New Year’s resolutions are funny things, aren’t they? We’ve probably all made at least one in our lifetimes, but where did the tradition of making resolutions come from? How popular are they today? And how many people actually keep them?

“It’s a new dawn It’s a new day It’s a new life, for me And I’m feeling good”

Nina Simone

BABYLONIAN BARGAINS

According to Sarah Pruitt (history.com), the ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions “some 4,000 years ago”.

“During a massive 12-day religious festival, known as Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. These promises could be considered the forerunners of our New Year’s resolutions. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favour on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favour – a place no one wanted to be.”