As we wrap up one year and look hopefully ahead to the next, most in our region are looking forward to the possibility of peace, prosperity, success … all the good things that are possible when the blank slate of an entire year stretches out before us.

Sure, we take some accountability by assigning resolutions to ourselves — improvement plans to which we say we will stick for 365 days. (On the other hand, some eat their pork and sauerkraut and hope for the best knowing they’ve done their part.)

But it is worth asking ourselves: What do we truly want for ourselves, our families, our communities and our country in the coming year? What one thing do we think needs to happen to help move our communities forward, to help our families prosper, to help our nation and world heal?

And then: What can we possibly do to make that happen?

On this day where every change feels just a little more possible, embrace it.

If you think it’s possible, figure out what it would take to make it happen and then start with step 1.

Completion of that first step will be its own success.

Then move on to the next.

The key is to not give up — or at least, to frame “giving up” as tackling the problem from a different angle.

Meanwhile, celebrate this fresh start safely and responsibly. Set yourself up for a wonderful new year by taking steps to avoid driving under the influence. Don’t let poor decision-making ruin things for you and those with whom you will share the road.

At home and on your devices, think about how you interact with those around you. Resolve to be better in digital conversations, where context often is lost. Work to build people and our communities up instead of immediately looking at how to tear them down.

Make this the year to be different. Make this the year to be better. Make this the year to start the healing process and end what has driven us apart.

How wonderful if, with this fresh start, humans did a better job of treating each other with compassion and empathy; if we followed the Golden Rule.

How much better off we might be if politicians and the bureaucracy remembered they serve us, rather than themselves.

Oh, the possibilities if children are encouraged to learn, explore, read, ask questions and think for themselves.

With all this, do it with a managed approach. Perhaps we should simply resolve to be better — even if only a little bit. If we can do that, one small step at a time, perhaps the big stuff will begin to take care of itself.

2026 is upon us. May we all resolve to take better care of ourselves and one another — letting compassion and hope be our guides.

Happy new year!

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”

Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.'”

Alfred Lord Tennyson, British poet