In my family, it’s an annual tradition that on Christmas, after all the food has been eaten, presents opened and cookies devoured, we all sit around the table for The Peppermint Pig.
The pink pig is made of peppermint candy, which is supposed to bring good luck for the New Year when broken. So every year, starting with the youngest person in our family, everyone takes three hits at the pig in the red velvet bag with a tiny hammer.
After the pig is smashed, it is then dumped out. In order to receive good luck for the New Year, you have to eat a piece of the broken candy pig. Every year, I pester my family, saying that the pig never brings us any good luck. I may say it just to be the annoying cousin at the Christmas table, but I truly believe that a candy pig in a red velvet bag serves no lucky purpose aside from being a nice standing family tradition.
With the New Year quickly approaching, the superstitions begin. Thousands and thousands of wishes on scraps of confetti from people who are hoping for a little New Year’s luck are dropped in New York City with the Times Square ball. Resolutions that “you’re really gonna stick to this year” are made and everyone becomes a slightly better version of themselves on Jan. 1.
But why? All because the clock strikes 12 and the calendar flips to January? What gives a New Year a good excuse for wishes and luck? What about the other 364 days throughout the year?
We often hear the saying “Good things come to those who wait," but Abraham Lincoln left his own spin on this common saying. “Good things come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” I stand behind what President Lincoln expressed. With the New Year rolling in, there is no better time to argue that there is no need to wait for another year of excuses. Why wait to start a resolution, or why even wait to make one? If you wanna be a better you, there is no time like the present.
Want to lose some weight? Work for it and start now.
Want to make more money? Work for it and start now.
Want to be happier? Work for it and start now.
Want to be healthier? Work for it and start now.
Want to be stronger, faster, friendlier, leaner, smarter, anything… Work for it. There is no time like the present, and nothing changes by itself. If you want to be a better you, it’s not going to happen by just sitting there making wishes about what you want to be.
You need to work for you. So why not start now? Why wait for the tick of a clock or the swipe of a calendar? There is no need for these phony New Year's resolutions and wishes and lucky rituals; there is only a need for you. You alone have the power to make you a better self. It's up to you whether or not you do it, and the earlier you begin, the earlier you end. So why wait for Jan. 1?
Start today. Work harder for yourself. Love yourself better. Do it for you.
For your younger self, for your current self and the future and forever you.
