Before we know it another year comes to an end and we are looking at a new one with numbers it takes a while to remember. We always have a good time with Christmas and with the religious background of what the season is all about we look forward to ways to improve our lifestyle. This is where New Year Resolutions come in. Webster says a resolution is a statement of opinion, a will to do, the intent of a body with a firm plan of change, or finding an answer to a current problem.

Many people make a resolution to save more money during the coming year, which usually means they hope to quit wasting their money. Others plan to stop smoking, which is really hard to do, but with the help of family members and some real determination it can be done. Often the family doctor will be the one who pushes for someone to stop. Having smoked for 30 years it took a serious talk with the family doctor to encourage me to quit the habit.

Some men should make a resolution to just hold on to the arm rest and keep their mouth shut when the wife drives, which is another hard one to do. Often people decide they will begin the New Year with a plan to help others. Once that program is started it becomes a real life goal and opportunities seem to appear every day. Several agencies here in our town need help and it is easy to get started with that resolution.

Many younger people promise to be more courteous in their driving habits, or just in their driving, and many of the older folks would do well to copy these youngsters. That would be something else we could learn from them besides cell phone and electronic gadgets. As our kids get older, teaching and learning gets to be a two-way street and they teach us about as much as we teach them.

When it comes to cooperating in what amounts to teaching and learning, wouldn’t it be a glorious day if our representatives and senators in Washington, D.C. resolved to work together for what would be best for their constituents? That same idea could also work really well with people in all walks of life and would be a blessing in our everyday activities.

Many of our friends and neighbors may make resolutions to become more active in their church work and religious studies and participation. It gets easy as we grow older to just move over and let the younger folks take over the jobs in our churches, which is a good idea but should not exclude us oldsters from continuing to help. Changes in churches come along quite regularly and if we sit on the sidelines we might just miss the boat, which is another form of teaching and learning for our own knowledge.

Maybe as new years come along we all have a need to come up with some resolutions that will make living with our families better, as well as getting along in our daily friendships with others. Everyone needs to make one or more changes, especially with the start of another year and this is a good time to start. There are some who resolve to not make any resolutions so they can really succeed with that one, but that’s not a very smart idea even if it does work.

We live in a good town with good neighboring towns and it all works out to make us lucky for who and where we are in this day and time. Maybe with that thought in mind we can use this coming New Year to make some changes within ourselves to do our part as friendly neighbors, cooperating citizens and helpers for others.

Let’s hope that we all make and keep resolutions to make us easier to get along with. Our good Lord has shown us the way and with a small amount of effort we can follow His guide. May He continue to bless us this New Year.