Happy New Year! And here we go again!
Welcome to 2023. I thought I would share my new year’s resolution with you. For years I always seemed to make the same ones: lose weight and exercise more. Yeah… how’d THAT work out? I do belong to a gym now where I try to use the treadmill at least three times a week. It’s been pretty quiet in there lately but I expect it to pick up soon. At least for the first month or so.
This year I thought I would try a different approach when it comes to resolutions.
This year I resolve to look on the bright side more. While researching a “Thought for the Day” for the show recently I found one that said: “Don’t think about what could go wrong, think about what could go right.” To be honest, I spent more years as the pessimist when it comes to that quote. “What if THIS goes wrong? What if THAT doesn’t work?”
I also read a quote on the sign board outside my church a few weeks ago. It’s from Maya Angelou and it said, “Be a rainbow to someone else’s cloud.” I’ve been thinking about how, on our worst days, we can probably still do that.
You don’t have to have all the answers. I usually don’t. However, if you can bring someone a smile or even a warm fuzzy feeling while they’re having a bad day, what a gift you’ve brought that person.
Sometimes you just have to be there. Showing someone you care or that you thought of them can make a huge difference. Offer hope. Offer stability. Sometimes that can be a huge gift when life seems to be spinning out of control. Offer a safe space. A caring ear. A shoulder to cry on.
I used to think I had to solve someone’s problems if they decided to share them with me. They trusted me to tell me so I better find the solution. I learned, some would say slowly, that you don’t always have to find an answer. Just listening and validating someone’s concerns can be enough.
So I guess my goal for 2023 is to be a rainbow. I’m sure we’ll have our share of cloudy moments in our lives this new year, but maybe if we all try to be the rainbow in someone’s life… we’ll be okay.
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