New Year's Day Traditions for Welcoming a Fresh Start

Do you wish to learn a little about New Year's Day traditions?

New Year's Day is a time for new starts. It is a time to reflect on the year just passed, and a time to plan for the year to come.

Because it is seen as a time of new beginnings, there are a number of New Year's Day traditions and superstitions that are observed that may help you start your new year off on the best possible footing.

One of the most widely known traditions is that of making resolutions. Since this is the beginning of a new year, people use this time to plan for the coming months by making resolutions or promises. This tradition is believed to date back to the Babylonian era.

Early Christians believed that the first day of the year should be set aside for reflecting on the past and making plans for improvement. Today, the most common New Year's resolutions include dropping a few pounds, quitting smoking or being more financially responsible. Making resolutions is a time honored tradition; however, many people break their resolutions within a few weeks or months of making them.

Another New Year's Day tradition is ringing in the New Year by staying up until midnight on New Year's Eve. It was believed that you should make lots of noise at the stroke of midnight on New Year's to keep evil spirits from entering your home. You should also make sure there are plenty of doors and windows open to let the old year out and the new one in.

Some of the things you should do or have on New Year's Eve for good luck include dancing outside around a tree, plus having some money in your pocket and lots of food in your pantry. Another New Year's Day tradition is kissing your significant other at the stroke of midnight to ensure your relationship will be warm and happy the rest of the year.

One New Year's Day tradition is also the singing of "Auld Lang Syne", which started as a poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns. Bandleader Guy Lombardo took the poem and made it a New Year's tradition in 1929 by playing at the celebration at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. Since that time, the song has been an American tradition. The song speaks of times past and the hope for the future.

Many people also have traditional meals they prepare on New Year's Day. These meals are supposed to bring health, wealth and good luck for the coming year. In the American south, a standard New Year's Day meal may include fried hog jowls (for good luck and moving forward), cooked cabbage (for wealth), and black eyed peas (for health and prosperity). Other traditions call for eating 12 grapes on the first day of the new year (one for each month) to ensure prosperity in the coming days.

Whether you observe the standard New Year's Day traditions or start your own, one of the most important things to remember is that each new year is a time of starting fresh. It is an opportunity to reflect on the things that happened the year before and make plans for the year ahead.

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