Here we are, four days into 2018. If you made resolutions and are still keeping them, congratulations. If you’ve already fallen off the wagon, it’s not too late to get back on! 
Why do humans make new year’s resolutions, anyway? As far as I can tell, my dogs haven’t made any preparations at all for the new year. So why do we? Because we want to improve ourselves. We want to do better in the year to come. That should be cause for hope in humanity. The fact most of our resolutions fall by the wayside before the end of the month is a potential reason to be discouraged.
Maybe we’re looking at resolutions the wrong way. Maybe we should look at our goals and resolutions more like a never-ending board game instead of like a harsh taskmaster. I’m not talking about finding the winning strategy for diet, exercise, finances or anything else; I’m talking about not giving up. Remember when you were a kid and you just kept playing, even after someone won? Just keep rolling the dice and moving forward.
We had a revelation this month: finding a good accountant is as important as having a good doctor. I’m a big fan of being resourceful and figuring out how to do things on my own, but sometimes it’s just better to humble myself, acknowledge my limitations, and pay an expert to do the job. It might seem like you’re saving yourself a few dollars by doing it yourself, but in reality, you might be costing yourself more than you realize.
Dr. Dorsett shared an important reminder with us this week (see Letters to the Editor) that there are multiple open seats up for local election and that petitions need to be filed in January. There are multiple boards looking for new members, as well.
We regularly run across potential conflicts of interest with our governing authorities. It’s not because there aren’t enough people living here. It’s because there aren’t enough people willing to participate. There’s no reason one person should be serving on three or four different boards in the same town.
Which brings us back to the same old, same old: If you don’t like how things are being handled, then you need to suck it up and serve. President John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
The same could be said about our communities. Ask yourself this ouchie question: If you aren’t willing to step up and serve, who will? The answer? Probably the loud-mouth obnoxious neighbor/relative/co-worker with the extremist opinions about everything who drives you completely crazy on Facebook. Just a thought. Ready to throw your name in the ring yet?
