By Park Moo-jong
Five days have passed by so fast since the start of the New Year of the Dog (that actually begins on Feb. 16 in the lunar calendar).
There must be "lots" of people who have already quit their New Year's resolutions, faithfully living up to the realistic joke: resolutions "good for only three days."
January is named after the Latin word for door, ianua, since January is the door to the year and an opening to new beginnings. It is conventionally thought of as being named after Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology with two faces that look to the future and to the past.
As they used to and still do, people make New Year's resolutions to start something good and stop doing something bad, looking to the outgoing year and to the incoming year like the two-faced Janus.
The New Year's resolution is generally believed to have originated from the promise to God by Babylonians around 4,000 B.C. that they would repay money and return things they borrowed in the outgoing year.
Numerous news outlets and social media worldwide poured out the best 10, 50 or even 100 resolutions for the year of 2018 with various bits of advice to help keep them.
Bridget Jones, the 32-year-old single girl in the 1996 novel of British writer Helen Fielding, "Bridget Jones' Diary," made literally countless New Year's resolutions at the start of January, classifying them by "I will not" and "I will."
On top of the "I will list" was, absolutely like most people in the world, particularly Koreans of today, stop smoking, followed by a very detailed diet (reduce circumference of thighs by 3 inches (1.5 inches each) using an anti-cellulite diet, giving all her clothes she has not worn for two years or more to the homeless and saving money in a savings account.
Different enough from others' are the resolution to not go out every night but stay in and read and listen to classical music (to gear up to become a good bride candidate?).
On top of the "I will not" list is, of course, drink more than 14 glasses of alcohol a week and smoke.
She appeared to be so resolute in saving money. "I will not" waste money on: pasta-makers, ice cream machines or other culinary devices which will never be used; books by unreadable literary authors to put impressively on shelves; and exotic underwear, being pointless as she has no boyfriend (what a pity!).
People across the planet definitely share New Year's resolutions as seen in the London girl's "dreams."
Various global surveys and statistics show the following as common resolutions: "stay fit and healthy," "lose weight," "enjoy life to the fullest," "spend less, save more," and "spend more time with family and friends."
However, what about Korean resolutions?
Korean salaried workers came up with a fresh one this year, choosing domestic instead of overseas trips as their No. 1 plan. Every year's No. 1 goal of diet dropped to second place, followed by saving money. In contrast, collegians still want to get slimmer this year.
Of all the common resolutions, I believe quitting smoking is the most serious one as people regard health as the most important of all.
Even if the world is getting smaller for smokers across the nation, especially here in Korea (where smoking while walking is soon to be legally prohibited), the number of smokers, notably among young people, never shows signs of decreasing.
No doubt, this resolution needs others' help, especially physicians, friends and family members. But it cannot be overemphasized that success or failure depends on the will of each smoker. For many, the clock of failure is already ticking and five days have passed.
Despite their efforts, as much as 90 percent of the people who attempt to change utterly fail. Why are these resolutions so difficult to keep? A Canadian scientist in 2002 blamed "False Hope Syndrome," the unrealistic expectation of self-change in the "cycle of failure and renewed effort."
As the University of Toronto researcher Janet Polivy pointed out, a combination of unrealistic goals and a misunderstanding of people's own behavior are absolutely to blame for the failure.
But don't be disappointed by what we failed to do. Experience tells us how difficult it is to live up to promises made to ourselves.
When we attain reasonable goals, we feel euphoric and what a wonderful sense of fulfillment and pride that is! Yet we don't need to be discouraged with the failed resolutions that were good for three days.
We lose steam maybe just three days into the New Year. We should know there is no harm in adjusting our goals. It is better than not meeting them at all in order to try to be better versions of ourselves. The fact we made the resolutions at the start of a New Year is important in itself.
Personally, my two resolutions for the year of 2018 are: I will not place my smartphone on the dining table unless I am eating alone in a restaurant, feeling too awkward to just sit in silence. Nothing looked doughier than a table full of friends or family members all looking down at their phones until their food arrives and even after; and I will walk five kilometers every day.
Park Moo-jong is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in1951 from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter for the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com
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There must be "lots" of people who have already quit their New Year's resolutions, faithfully living up to the realistic joke: resolutions "good for only three days."
January is named after the Latin word for door, ianua, since January is the door to the year and an opening to new beginnings. It is conventionally thought of as being named after Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology with two faces that look to the future and to the past.
As they used to and still do, people make New Year's resolutions to start something good and stop doing something bad, looking to the outgoing year and to the incoming year like the two-faced Janus.
The New Year's resolution is generally believed to have originated from the promise to God by Babylonians around 4,000 B.C. that they would repay money and return things they borrowed in the outgoing year.
Numerous news outlets and social media worldwide poured out the best 10, 50 or even 100 resolutions for the year of 2018 with various bits of advice to help keep them.
Bridget Jones, the 32-year-old single girl in the 1996 novel of British writer Helen Fielding, "Bridget Jones' Diary," made literally countless New Year's resolutions at the start of January, classifying them by "I will not" and "I will."
On top of the "I will list" was, absolutely like most people in the world, particularly Koreans of today, stop smoking, followed by a very detailed diet (reduce circumference of thighs by 3 inches (1.5 inches each) using an anti-cellulite diet, giving all her clothes she has not worn for two years or more to the homeless and saving money in a savings account.
Different enough from others' are the resolution to not go out every night but stay in and read and listen to classical music (to gear up to become a good bride candidate?).
On top of the "I will not" list is, of course, drink more than 14 glasses of alcohol a week and smoke.
She appeared to be so resolute in saving money. "I will not" waste money on: pasta-makers, ice cream machines or other culinary devices which will never be used; books by unreadable literary authors to put impressively on shelves; and exotic underwear, being pointless as she has no boyfriend (what a pity!).
People across the planet definitely share New Year's resolutions as seen in the London girl's "dreams."
Various global surveys and statistics show the following as common resolutions: "stay fit and healthy," "lose weight," "enjoy life to the fullest," "spend less, save more," and "spend more time with family and friends."
However, what about Korean resolutions?
Korean salaried workers came up with a fresh one this year, choosing domestic instead of overseas trips as their No. 1 plan. Every year's No. 1 goal of diet dropped to second place, followed by saving money. In contrast, collegians still want to get slimmer this year.
Of all the common resolutions, I believe quitting smoking is the most serious one as people regard health as the most important of all.
Even if the world is getting smaller for smokers across the nation, especially here in Korea (where smoking while walking is soon to be legally prohibited), the number of smokers, notably among young people, never shows signs of decreasing.
No doubt, this resolution needs others' help, especially physicians, friends and family members. But it cannot be overemphasized that success or failure depends on the will of each smoker. For many, the clock of failure is already ticking and five days have passed.
Despite their efforts, as much as 90 percent of the people who attempt to change utterly fail. Why are these resolutions so difficult to keep? A Canadian scientist in 2002 blamed "False Hope Syndrome," the unrealistic expectation of self-change in the "cycle of failure and renewed effort."
As the University of Toronto researcher Janet Polivy pointed out, a combination of unrealistic goals and a misunderstanding of people's own behavior are absolutely to blame for the failure.
But don't be disappointed by what we failed to do. Experience tells us how difficult it is to live up to promises made to ourselves.
When we attain reasonable goals, we feel euphoric and what a wonderful sense of fulfillment and pride that is! Yet we don't need to be discouraged with the failed resolutions that were good for three days.
We lose steam maybe just three days into the New Year. We should know there is no harm in adjusting our goals. It is better than not meeting them at all in order to try to be better versions of ourselves. The fact we made the resolutions at the start of a New Year is important in itself.
Personally, my two resolutions for the year of 2018 are: I will not place my smartphone on the dining table unless I am eating alone in a restaurant, feeling too awkward to just sit in silence. Nothing looked doughier than a table full of friends or family members all looking down at their phones until their food arrives and even after; and I will walk five kilometers every day.
Park Moo-jong is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in1951 from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter for the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com
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