Without noisemakers, without streamers, without a giant ball dropping down a pole in New York City, January 31^st arrived. Ta Da!

Do you know where your New Year’s Resolutions are?  Oh yes, those.  Remember them?

If you’re like most Americans, or maybe just me, your commitment to make big changes in the new year is fading, if it hasn’t completely gone out yet. Maybe your weight hasn’t budged downward. Maybe you mysteriously found yourself buying a pack of cigarettes. Or maybe you still can’t find the floor of your closet because there’s too much stuff in the way. If any of those scenarios seem a little too familiar, don’t despair. You now have a great opportunity to breathe new life into your resolutions.

That’s right. Not only is it possible to make lemonade out of the resolution lemons, you can throw a party. In fact, maybe you should because we can celebrate the Chinese New Year beginning today.

Since I live in the states and I’m not of Chinese descent, I’ve renamed the holiday. I call it: Our Second Chance. And frankly, I don’t understand why all American’s don’t celebrate it. I find it more user-friendly than the standard, normal New Year.

Unlike the western New Year, the Chinese New Year does not begin one second after midnight on January 1^st. It’s a little more flexible.  It begins sometime between the end of January and the middle of February and takes fifteen days to celebrate.

What that means is by the time you realize you’re not meeting your resolutions, you still have a few weeks before you pop the next champagne cork to make a new game plan and start all over again.

How very cool is that?

Actually, now that I think it through a little more, if you try really hard, you might be able to re-start your resolution with a legitimate (sounding) rationale each month. Honest. Look: March brings us St. Patrick’s day, a day to celebrate the new beginning just one man gave to Ireland. April: Passover and Easter — celebrations of renewal/rebirth/second chances. May — Mother’s Day, and what better symbolism of a new beginning then having a baby, eh?

I could go on, but you get the picture, and besides, you may start thinking I’m stretching things a bit. Regardless, happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

Cheers!