One Resolution We Should Try To Keep: Feel It On The First
The ancient Babylonians… ok I know the first three words might make you want to leave and stop reading, but please don’t! You have our permission to skip down to paragraph six.
If we didn’t scare you off please keep reading. We are all human with our own traditions, celebrations, sacrifices, beliefs, stories and opinions. It’s crucial to understand that some things can help us all in various ways even if we do them a little different and in our own ways. If we support each other by listening and learning from the past and passing on new and unique ways to communicate, feel, heal, make amends, or even create community we can only provide more and better ways to support and care for one another.
The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year's resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. During a massive 12-day religious festival known as Akitu they made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favor—a place no one wanted to be.
A similar practice occurred in ancient Rome, after the reform-minded emperor Julius Caesar tinkered with the calendar and established January 1 as the beginning of the new year circa 46 B.C. January had special significance for the Romans. Believing that Janus symbolically looked backwards into the previous year and ahead into the future, the Romans offered sacrifices to the deity and made promises of good conduct for the coming year.
For early Christians, the first day of the new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future.
Despite the tradition’s religious roots, New Year’s resolutions today are a mostly secular practice. Instead of making promises to the gods, most people make resolutions only to themselves, and focus purely on self-improvement.
According to recent research, while as many as 45 percent of Americans say they usually make New Year’s resolutions, only 8 percent are successful in achieving their goals. The year of 2022 has come and gone bringing us into the new year of 2023. Have you made a resolution? Have you kept your resolution? What was it and how long did you keep it?
As a community of previvors, survivors and caregivers, we have learned what educating and advocating for the cancer community, mental health community and most importantly or yourself can accomplish. We cannot stress enough how important is is to know your family health history, have annual exams (mammograms at 40 or sooner if you have a family history), talk to your medical team, and prioritize self-care.
On the first day of this new year, if you keep any resolutions we implore you - men and women- to keep this one, #FeelItOnTheFirst. Early detection is important when talking about breast cancer. Women whose breast cancer is detected early have a much higher survival rate than those who detect the cancer later. The longer cancer goes without being detected, the further it can spread, damaging other vital organs.
Have you ever performed a self exam on your breasts? With the help of Keep-A-Breast and Julie Lohre, we have created a condensed info sheet to get you started with early detection and #FeelItOnTheFirst.
Print out the PDF - here.
Fold it in half at the FOLD line.
Take one half for you and give the other half to a friend. The half you keep for yourself can be folded again and put into your wallet, card case, backpack or fanny pack. If you have a pair of scissors, cut it out and it’ll fit nicely in your back pocket.
Don’t forget to check the links and download the app for a more detailed and a thorough check!
Also, a friendly reminder that you have two breasts, just like you have two hands! Get printing, feeling, knowing your breasts and START DETECTING!
