FALL RESOLUTIONS

It's your time to shine

The ancients worshiped gods and goddesses sacred to transitions and change. The most famous of these is Janus, the Roman god, who looked both forward and backward. This is why the first month in the western calendar is named January.

The god Janus. Don’t call him Two Face, he hates that joke.

The namesake month of our friend Janus is traditionally a time of renewal. We look forward to the coming end of winter and the softening of the weather. We make resolutions about the changes we will make and goals we will achieve in the coming year.

For most of us these goals and resolutions don’t stick. When January rolls around we promise ourselves we will change, but we hesitate, remembering how we fell short last year, and fear that this year will be the same. Our doubt contains the seeds of failure. We are saddened in a cold, sad season.

We think of fall as a time of endings. Summer is over and the days get shorter. Vacation romances come to an end. School reopens, and even if you’re no longer a student, the long memory of compulsory education still weighs us down. The beauty of the changing leaves just reminds us that they will turn brown and fall. The earth is in transition to winter.

Yet research shows that the fall is actually one of the most productive times of year. Just as we race to finish a project when the deadline approaches, we kick into high gear to finish the year strong. It’s no wonder that by the time we get to January we’re not in the frame of mind to embark on new projects. Instead, we should reflect and celebrate all that we just accomplished in the year gone by.

I propose that instead of New Year’s resolutions, we should make September resolutions. With the distractions of summer over and the prospect of the dark months of winter ahead, let’s use this time to blaze out like the fall foliage. Let’s make resolutions, start new projects, take big decisions. We’ll use that end of year energy to power our new beginnings. As we transition to the new calendar year and the cold of winter, we’ll be well down our new path by the time winter closes down. I think Judaism has it right–we should celebrate the New Year in the fall, not the winter.