New Year’s Resolutions

by Howard E Cummins

Columnist

The year of 2020 will soon be rushing off the American landscape, carrying with it a baggage of worries about a New Year waiting in the wings. This past year offered us one of the most stressful that many of us have seen, and as we approach the beginning of 2021, I can guarantee that most of us carry hopes for a safer and healthier year. And, if typical, we each carry the additional baggage of a few New Year’s resolutions.

Are resolutions nothing more than false promises we make to ourselves? I’d like to think that a majority of us take this annual issue seriously and that a few of you have already pondered a resolution or two. If not, here are a few suggestions from this humble writer:

• Stop letting anger get in the way of cherishing and keeping relationships with others.

• More tolerance, more empathy, and more compassion and understanding for the welfare of others.
• “Give more, ask for less.” (That statement alone is a recipe for constructive living.)

• “The path to true happiness lies in helping others.” (Helen Caldecott, Peace Prayers).

• The best resolution is learning how to get along with those we love, simply by ignoring irritating episodes that mean absolutely nothing. Harsh words are seldom forgotten.

• Love, kindness, peace, happiness and joy are the fruits of the human spirit. They cost nothing but reap great and lasting result.
Ambiguous, powerful and negative words are voices of tyranny, even on a small scale. We live in an age of perpetual noise and confusion, but we can be the masters of controlling the irritation of their assaults.
Resolutions are inner dialogues with ourselves that can be valuable in helping us watch over our own human conduct.

Some circumstances and situations in life are changeable, and when they are, choices are available. Resolutions, then, provide the recipes for dealing with life gracefully. Making corrections in our own lives that is well worth the effort.