There’s a fascinating trend that occurs in the first month of the year. Gyms typically see a 12-per-cent increase in new memberships at the beginning of January. By the close of the month, four per cent of these new members will have quit the gym, 14 per cent leave by the end of February, and 50 per cent are gone by June, according to the Global Health & Fitness Association.

The early days of 2020 have already relegated many best intentions and New Year’s resolutions to the try-again-next-year bin.

I am writing this column late in December, thinking of the annual ritual of making resolutions. I do not think in my life I ever followed through on a New Year’s resolution — but I have made resolutions at other times of the year that I have stuck to like glue. 

It’s that time of year again. For Christians, the time from Christmas day until the Baptism of the Lord is the true Christmas season. It is, however, also the time for New Year’s resolutions.