SPRING FORD, PA— New Year’s is the start of a new beginning with lots to celebrate with family and friends in and around the Spring Ford area.

If you are looking for something extra special to do, you don’t have to go far. In addition to the traditional dining out in local restaurants, there are special events sprinkled in the suburbs and the city of Brotherly Love. Spring Party favor

There is Arnold's Family Fun Center in Oaks, Longwood Gardens in Chester County and Firework cruises in Philadelphia.

Here is a look at some happenings in the Spring Ford area:

The history of New Year’s resolutions dates back 8,000 years to ancient Babylonians, who would make promises to return borrowed objects and pay outstanding debts at the beginning of the new year, in mid-March when they planted their crops. According to legend, if they kept their word, pagan gods would grant them favor in the coming year. If they broke the promise, they would fall out of God’s favor, according to a history of New Year’s resolutions compiled by North Hampton Community College New Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Many secular New Year’s resolutions focus on imagining new, improved versions of ourselves. The failure rate of New Year’s resolutions is about 80 percent, according to U.S. News & World Report. There are myriad reasons, but a big one is they’re made out of remorse for gaining weight, for example, and aren’t accompanied by a shift in attitude and a plan to meet the stress and discomfort of changing a habit or condition.

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