Does Anyone Really Start a Diet on January 1st?

New year's resolution are great. We emerge from the past with innocent aspirations of all the things we'll take on in this, the bestest year ever! But New Year's Day is so many more things that are steeped in long-standing traditions in America.
For one, it's an endless array of football games, usually collegiate, fronted by parades filled with marching bands, floats, odes to heritage, and spectators desperately trying to convince you that they're thrilled to be there after being up most of the night.
Let's talk about that. New Year's Eve is one of the major celebrations of gluttony, intoxication and vice that precedes our commitment to a higher power. Mardi Gras and Halloween also share the honor of days to revel in many things we intend to forgo, showing just how committed we can be to a higher calling.
The games we play to let others know that we understand and can live by "the rules". Truth is, we are creatures in a natural universe that trumps our incarnations. Tides and seasons and changing winds ARE what resonates around all of us, independent of beliefs and associations, and are the underlying foundation of our existence.
So live for that. Live for what makes your heart sing, your thoughts soar and your emotions swoon while you play the game. Live for your higher power, within and without. Live the adventure, love the experience.
And no cheating!