Many “good resolutions” for the New Year!

The lovely idea of ​​“good intentions”…

Since childhood, we've been accustomed to starting the New Year with a host of "good intentions." According to tradition, this New Year's Eve custom dates back to Pope Sylvester , who also gave his name to the day of the turn of the year. This pope's birthday was on December 31st, and even in his time (4th century AD), it was customary to offer good wishes to the birthday person on this special day.

Pope Sylvester was one of the first popes of the still young Church. He reorganized it in the 4th century and was therefore of considerable importance for the development of the fledgling faith community. He was soon venerated as a saint, and his birthday became the patron saint of December 31st. From the year 354 onwards, this day has been celebrated as "New Year's Eve".

As is typical of church leaders, Silvester did not simply accept the good wishes for his birthday with thanks, but also used his position as a church moralist to promise all those offering congratulations forgiveness for the sins of the past year – but only if they in turn promised to improve themselves.

And so the “good intentions” we know were born, but with one crucial flaw. If you take a closer look at the “good intentions” people usually make, it quickly becomes clear that they are anything but “good” intentions.

…and their pitfalls

In keeping with the demanding Pope's views, the person who is always striving to fulfill their duties does not actually make "good" resolutions, but above all and primarily resolves to torment themselves even more than before.

The plan calls for regular physical exercise, daily gymnastic exercises, and lunch breaks at the swimming pool. From Easter onwards, communication at home is to be exclusively in Spanish, and the necessary vocabulary is to be learned by then. A daily evening bike ride is planned, following a dinner consisting solely of home-cooked, healthy food.

The bottom line is this: we usually resolve to do something terrible, something unpleasant that we want to avoid and that requires effort. The fact that this custom hasn't died out is probably due to the sheer temptation to plan a fresh start for ourselves at the beginning of a new year.

Such “good intentions” can only be kept with tricks

No wonder these kinds of "good" resolutions are so rarely kept; you could hardly be more cleverly designed to motivate yourself towards failure: choosing the worst weather of the year to start daily exercise, burdening sensible food with efforts that give it a consistently unpleasant appeal, structuring learning tasks in such a way that completion is impossible from the outset... this is a kind of planning that would make any motivational trainer shudder.

Even resolutions of this less appealing nature could be kept – but only if you exercised a minimum of care in treating your own self when making them, and if the resolutions were designed in such a way that at least the beginning appeared almost tempting and perseverance (and any breaks in between) was permitted without pangs of conscience.

The most effective way to develop new, beneficial habits is without any pressure, almost incidentally, by "tricking" yourself a little. For example, you could casually integrate some exercise into your daily routine until these few muscle movements become a cherished habit; your body will then naturally crave more.

You could gather some useful information about healthy food and pick out the dishes that any gourmet would lick their fingers for, perhaps a range of Spanish tapas, while preparing which you will learn your first Spanish vocabulary “de paso” (and half a year later, fully motivated, many more because you absolutely want to translate a very specific Spanish recipe).

But they could also simply rethink their approach:

Good intentions that will truly benefit you

You could make resolutions that are excellent, good resolutions with which you reward yourself a little each time. The broad field of art particularly well-suited for this kind of good intention:

You could treat yourself to a walk in the woods as early as January and, in remembrance of Saint Sylvester (whose name comes from silva = forest), collect fascinating forest finds to create small works of art for your home. Perhaps there's even a forest art trail or hiking path in your area, like those in the forests near Darmstadt or in Berlin (information at iwz.waldkunst.com, www.waldkunst-berlin.de).

Try not to relax in front of the television this time. Instead, you might find yourself annoyed to discover that the supposedly new film is being shown for the fourth time. Instead, search online for interesting art exhibitions in your area and actually visit them in the next few days.

You could even start some kind of artistic activity yourself, with or without a teacher – for many people, the most wonderful form of relaxing leisure time… … What's crucial is probably that you enthusiastically explore new horizons. Kunstplaza wishes you a wonderful New Year!

Lina Sahne

Passionate author with a keen interest in art

www.kunstplaza.de