Resolution comes from the Latin root word “resolvĕre.”
“Re” means again or back.
“Solvĕre” means to loosen, untie, free, or dissolve.
So, a resolution literally means to free again.
Of course, the word has evolved into what it is today, but I always find value in understanding the root of words to appreciate their purpose.
Most New Year’s resolutions feel like the wearing of new chains of duties or a tangling in commitments, but that is not the original intent of a resolution.
It is meant to be a look back at the chains from the past year and the charting of a course of untangling in the new year.
A new year does not have to come with new commitments but a breaking of old habits. An unyoking of sorts.
So, this year, instead of a new list of things you want to do, maybe choose one pattern from the past you want to break and be free again.
– Osasu Oviawe