Defining a new year

How is a year defined?  Technically a year is 365 days or 8,760 hours, or 525,600 minutes, or even 31,536,000 seconds.  But that's not how people define their years.  People don't sit around and count how many minutes they've spent doing x or y (at least I hope they don't do that).  Eventually we'll look at how people define a year, but before that, let's look at a quick summary of the history of New Years.
For starters, according to our Gregorian Calendar (and the ancient Roman and Julian Calendars) New Years lands in January.  January got its name Janus, the Roman mythical god of gates, doors, doorways, etc.  He has a head with two faces: one that faces backwards and one forwards.  In relation to the New Year, Janus looks back on our past year and forward to the year ahead.  Considering the name of the month is based on a Roman god, it is guessed that this holiday is based in pagan traditions.  The decision to have our calendar year go from January to December dates back to about 700 B. C.  Another tradition indicates that January 1 was the day Jesus was circumcised, and this has since been the first day of our year.  
One more point to clarify is that not all the world celebrates New Years on January 1.  There are others who celebrate January 14, some that celebrate in March, April, and even June.  All of these differences are based on different belief systems and calendars used.
NOW, let's ponder how a year is actually defined by people... and me.
1.  People:
     What has changed and what has stayed the same?  I have had the joy to add some people into my life.  A new sister-in-law and niece were added to our lives.  What a blessing they are!!  And, my other sister and brother-in-law adopted a baby boy, who got to come home on Christmas Day!  He's my new godson as well.  It is such a blessing to add these wonderful people into my life this year.  
      But, it's not all about additions.  It's also about those things that stay the same.  I have an amazing husband... going on our second year of marriage.  We both had wonderful family that bring joy and smiles to our faces.  And friends.  There's no forgetting friends.  We still are blessed to have old and new friends in our lives.  This Christmas, one of my oldest friends (we've known each other since we were 3) asked me to be in her wedding next year.  I am so excited and honored that we are still close enough for me to stand up in her wedding.  There are people in our lives that will always touch my heart, and it's a wonderful feeling to know that another year has passed by and they are still there. 
2.  Adventures:
     Travels!  What have we done this year that makes it different from any other year?  Well, there was the large trip to Europe that my hubby and I took for our anniversary/honeymoon.  We also had trips for weddings and other gatherings.  For example, we went to Arizona for a friend's wedding and then Texas for a family wedding. 
     Travels aren't the only kind of adventures, however.  We bought a new dog, so we have two crazy animals running around the house.  They are high energy and love playing with laser pointers.  
3.  Job/Career:
     Well, I suppose looking at changes in jobs/careers is also a way to define a year.  For me, this year is  has included a lot of changes... not necessarily for the good.  The performance based pay system has been implemented... and not to the benefit of anyone, really.  (Personal opinion).  Although this has caused me more stress than I want to think about on vacation, it has given me the opportunity to reflect on my current position in life.  I absolutely LOVE teaching, but how good of a teacher am I when I doing things I don't believe in?  When I'm forced to give tests that don't benefit the students?  When I have to spend my time rushing through curriculum and not do an adequate job diving into depth with topics, how good of a teacher am I really?  So, throughout this reflection, I've had a chance to think about other options.  Different districts.  After finishing my Masters this summer, I'll be able to teach at a community college for a change of pace, if I want.  OR, I could do something completely different and work as an independent researcher, expanding my history knowledge and writing articles condensing this information.  But... that decision is for another year. 
How might others define a year?  Maybe there was sadness?  Maybe there were hardships?  Maybe there were births?  However you define a year, I hope you survived your year happy and the start of your new years is auspicious!