With the passing of the Winter Solstice on Dec. 22 the return of the light is officially upon us living in the North.
While there are many months of winter and shorter days at least we are all on the upswing!
So with positive thoughts in mind, this coming year has the potential to be the best yet. As many people set out to make New Year’s resolutions which are often forgotten about by March, I would like to encourage people to make resolutions in smaller, more attainable increments.
Can you imagine what a difference we all could make by working hard to recycle everything we can this year? How about starting a compost pile? Turning off the as many lights as you can and even having candlelight dinners once a week every week to save energy.
Then there are things like making healthy resolutions. Instead of aiming to lose say 10 pounds a month, how about making a resolution to not eat anything out of a box once week a month? Or drinking only water for one day every week? Our bodies would rejoice! Then there are the family resolutions. Making sure at least one night a week you plan something fun or educational to do with your children or family and friends. It doesn’t have to be a big event like going out or watching a movie, but one could do arts and crafts, play games, read a good book where you read a chapter a week.
Whatever you decide, the options are endless and in the end your family and children will be that much better for it. With that in mind, how about not turning on the television or computer for one day a week! Or even one week a month. Now that would not only save our planet, make a difference in our health but also improve our family life.
With these great ideas in mind I urge everyone to recycle as much of their leftover Christmas waste as they can. Whatever you can do to add a little less to our local landfills would make a big difference over all.
So this year, lets make resolutions with a better cause in mind that even if we only last until March, we will all have made a difference.
Happy New Year to all and may this year be the best you ever had.
Shannon Hurst is the correspondent for the Three Rivers Report.
