Why do we bother making New Year's resolutions?

And here we are… 2013. Just like that, nearly two weeks have already gone by here in The Grand Duchy. Maybe New Year’s resolutions are still intact, maybe not. There are still 350 days to go, more or less; plenty of time for broken hopes and broken dreams. Actually, that’s a bit too melodramatic. But there will be broken promises, sure enough, sooner than later, I am guessing.

The practice of making New Year’s resolutions dates all the way back to Babylon 4000 years ago. This, of course, suggests that humankind has a very long track record of going back on its word. That’s a bleak summation. Nonetheless, we persist, which offers some weird sense of hope. Or maybe we’re just historically sadomasochistic.