Celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next is a blast!  I enjoy celebrating everything that has been accomplished and look forward to what lies ahead.  This year, the top ten New Year resolutions look to be the same as last year’s list, and I can’t help but ponder a hypothesis. 

As we compete to get ahead, people compromise what is most important to them in order to survive; and as we struggle to get ahead, the sacrifices made become deeper as competition grows. Paradoxically, people end up sacrificing time with their families in order to support their families; and sacrificing their own physical and psychological health in order to support themselves.

We may look to our leaders for guidance and ask what they will do to turn things around, but today our leaders appear to be more lost than anyone. Today I choose to I focus on the people I see every day and change what I can and let go of what I can’t.

I cannot change a company’s business decision to lay off workers, but I can choose to buy things made by people in my local community. I can’t fix the economy, but I can help to pick up the pieces by helping one family at a time.

I cannot stop TikTok, or Elon Musk, or even make the distracted driver in front of me focus on getting through the green light this time around. But I can put down my own phone, unplug from social media, and interact with people, the people around me. 

A decision made by any one of us may be relatively small, but collectively the small decisions we all make will add up and make a difference. Together we can move forward and help one another.

This year I resolve to make purchasing decisions based on what I need instead of what an advertiser wants me to buy. I resolve to play cards or a board game with family, friends or neighbors, instead of wasting time online. I resolve to fight for the people in my family, my community and my country so that we may collaborate to solve problems that hit home. 

This year especially, I remember my training as a PADI Rescue Diver and the number one rule of a rescue attempt: “Be part of the solution, not the problem – Think Then Act!”