By Alison Crane
Did you know there are over 109 National Holidays just for the month of January? Seriously, there is something for everyone – Green Jui
ce Day, Clean Your Desk Day, even Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day.
I could go on, but you get the picture, and I haven’t even begun to list the different health emphases for the month of January. I found over ten, with subjects such as: National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and National Birth Defects Prevention Month.
Some of the days are silly or frivolous, such as: Happy Mew Year for Cats Day and Rubber Ducky Day. Others serve as a reminder and deserve our recognition like National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day on January 9th or International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th.
Designated days serve a purpose by focusing our attention and giving us a framework for showing gratitude. They bring a reminder of others and that we share so much in common. Those mini-holidays also remind us to celebrate the little things because so much of life is what you make it. This is the time of year we make resolutions and we tell one another to have a “Happy New Year.” We start out so hopeful, giving great emphasis to being happy in the new year.
Experience shows we need proactive efforts in order to be happy. Resolutions actually can help us focus and work toward goals that might at least make us healthier if not happier. The pledges we make at the beginning of each year serve a purpose much like emphasizing different themes on specific days of the year. So, if I want to be happy in 2019, maybe my resolutions should serve to make the year a celebration of life.
To start the process, I will pick some days to celebrate, both the silly and the serious, and maybe make a few of my own special holidays.
For more information on principles for building a better life, check out my January display at the Garland County Library or contact the Cooperative Extension Office. Visit our website: www.uaex.edu/counties/garland or call 501-623-6841. Like us on Facebook @GarlandFCS or @garlandEGF.
Alison Crane is a Family and Consumer Science Agent with the Garland County Extension Service. The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
