Cup O’ Joe: Another year has come and gone

As the John Lennon song goes… “So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun.”
I think our Canadian friends have it right. The day after Christmas is “Boxing Day,” a national holiday in Canada, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. According to Encyclopedia Britannica’s website, Boxing Day was originally the day following Christmas when servants, tradesmen and the poor would receive gifts from their superiors. The origin varies, with some believing that it derived from the opening of alms boxes that had been placed in churches for collecting donations to the poor.
And here I always thought it was called Boxing Day because it signified the act of putting holiday decorations back in their boxes for storage for another year.
It’s hard to believe, but 2012 is soon to be a distant memory. Hopefully we have all survived the Mayan “End of the World” prophecy. If not, then nobody is reading this column anyway.
Growing up, I never really understood why adults always would say, “Gee, this year sure flew by quickly,” or “I can’t believe it’s a new year already.” I always thought they were crazy. Funny thing is, they were right. As we age, time does seem to go by much more quickly. It certainly doesn’t seem like it has been a year since I last wrote an end of the year column, but yet here it is.
Resolutions are popular at this time of year. Personally, I have never understood the reason for this. Why should people wait until New Year’s Eve to make a decision to change something in their lives? Who came up with this idea in the first place?
Most resolutions typically fall into a category of trying to do more or less of a certain activity, or are focused on losing weight. From experience, the holidays are probably the absolute worst time to make a decision to start.
I’ve tried making resolutions, only to see them fail miserably. Every year it’s the same story. I make a resolution to lose some weight and to exercise more. After age 40, the pounds do not seem to come off as easily as they did when I was younger. The problem is, I really dislike working out in a gym. I’ve tried at various times through the years, but whenever I’ve been, I find myself looking at the clock wondering if I have worked out long enough.
We bought a treadmill a couple years ago. The thought was we would use the treadmill in the winter when it was too cold to go walking. My wife and I were diligent (OK, her more than me), at first, but the huge piece of equipment turned into exactly what I feared it would become … a catchall for crap as it set unused.
So the treadmill moved from the living room to the basement, and now that it’s out of sight, it really is out of mind. At least it is in my mind.
Perhaps 2013 will be a better year for sticking to my goal of shedding a few pounds. If not, well there’s always 2014, which will be here before we know it. From all of us here at the Houlton Pioneer Times, we wish you a joyous and prosperous New Year.
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for the Houlton Pioneer Times. He can be reached at pioneertimes@nepublish.com or 532-2281.