I want to get excited about New Year’s this year, I really do. They’ve always seemed to be pretty fun, especially the last few years. One thing people always seem to forget, unfortunately, is that NYE is literally any other night out except that midnight start a new calendar year. When you think about it, it’s synonymous with having crazy parties and wearing stupid hats to celebrate daylight savings time. Let that linger.
Problem is, like any other night, you’re still in a bar that is shitty and not only did the bar not get nicer but you paid WAY MORE to get into aforementioned shitty bar with probably minimal to no perks. Enter my situation this year. As I continue to get older and wiser I’m starting to wonder how many years I’ll acceptably be able to do this. That was more of a concern until I realized there probably won’t be too many more years I’ll WANT to do this (this being a bar, keep up).
What says ringing in the New Year better than a bar-soaked floor with hundreds of perfect strangers? Nothing I say. Although I’ve gotta hand it to you, bars at New Years, for giving us the perfect metaphor for life. We can rejoice with friends and strangers alike as a way of saying, hey man we get it. Life sucks, and it’s not going to get any better. Finish your beer.
So New Year’s is overhyped, but I can honestly say I get why. Everyone does. It’s the start of a new year, which will bring so many new and exciting things! New opportunities, new challenges, etc. When in reality it is an excuse to pretend that this year will be any different than the last. It’s easy to start that new diet or workout plan, harder to keep it going. I say this because, at a certain point in college and certainly upon graduation, I started to really contemplate what went on in my life in a year. And what does anyone accomplish in a year? You will most likely have the same family, same friends, and the same job. What special thing can you point to where you made a difference or became unordinary?
That’s what New Year’s gives us. Hope that we can be unordinary.
The same problems and struggles from the previous year will likely follow us into the new year. In some situations and with some people, they will follow you forever. The hope is that you will learn to cope better and harness more control over the problem. I don’t think anyone believes their problems will disappear in the next year. But it sure beats the alternative.
Edit: To help make this post appear less depressing, I would like to add that I’m going to get super drunk and have fun with my friends. Cool, bye.