The tradition of the New Year resolution goes all the way back to 153 B.C. when the Romans named the first month of the year after Janus. Janus was a mythical king of early Rome believed to be the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Therefore he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. Many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.
Today we make New Year resolutions to try to improve some aspect of ourselves in the coming year. Resolutions like losing weight, quit smoking, eat healthier or getting out of debt. But unfortunately for most of us, our resolutions are broken shortly after we’ve made them. In fact, a recent study found that 22% of people give up on their resolutions in the first week and by the end of March more than half of New Year resolvers have fallen off the bandwagon. The failure that we experience with New Year resolutions has inspired many famous quotes about them. One unknown author wrote, “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” Another unknown author wrote, “Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.” Joey Adams wrote “May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolution.” But I think that Benjamin Franklin had the right idea about resolutions when he wrote, ” Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.” With that as our goal, we here at Express Car Care resolve to discover what mistakes we make and do our best to correct them. We resolve to continue to give our customers quality and honest service in a friendly and courteous manner at a fair price. If you have ideas how we can better serve you this coming year please share them with us. Happy New Year!