Another year has come and gone and what a roller-coaster of a ride it was — just in the Athabasca area we’ve had everything from in-fighting on town council to a centennial in Perryvale to mills shutting down.
Unfortunately, although there was a lot of generosity and strides made forward in long-awaited construction projects this year, the bad did seem to outweigh the good at times.
In a few days, a new year will be peeking over the horizon — a shiny, brand-new year full of potential.
That’s the best part, really, about it. There’s the potential for anything to happen. We just have to work at it, which is probably the purpose of resolutions.
So, this year, instead of, or in addition to, the usual resolutions of losing weight and exercising more, let’s add one more and try to keep this one.
Let’s make this year a much better one than the last.
There’s not a lot we can do about the economy, the job market and our elected officials and anything else that’s entirely beyond our control. But, we can choose how we react to them.
Instead of filling the Facebook groups with bitterness and false information, why not take a breath and think — if you still strongly believe what you want to write about, then go ahead, but, first, take a minute.
Instead of allowing the economy and fighting in all levels of the government to twist you up inside, try to remember the small good things in your life — friends, family, maybe your favourite TV show.
This year was tough for a lot of people.
But, next year could be better.
We just have to work at it. We just have to try to keep the bad outside of ourselves and not let it hurt us as much.
There aren’t any promises that the physical difficulties of this year will go away with the turning of a calendar page. But, we can always hope for better times ahead — it really doesn’t hurt anyone.
So, here’s to a better 2016 and generosity and hope to all of you in the upcoming year.
