Embracing the new year with hope

A change of year can bring a change of outlook, a new perspective of our approach to every day.

There are our family traditions -- such as eating corned beef cabbage or black eyed peas -- singing "Auld Lang Syne," watching the ball drop in New York's Times Square and the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena, or kissing at midnight.

The changing over from one year to the next is often heralded for many of us as a time to make resolutions.

According to the website usa.gov, the most popular resolutions are:

* Lose weight

* Volunteer to help others

* Quit smoking

* Get a better education

* Get a better job

* Save money

* Get fit

* Eat healthy food

* Manage stress

* Manage debt

* Take a trip

* Reduce, reuse and recycle

* Drink less alcohol

For some of us too, the passing of the year marks a time to reflect.

It may be on the sadness at the passing of loved ones during the past 365 days, while we remember the ways they touched us and were a part of our lives.

It may be other life-altering events such as the change of jobs, a move, or the reversal of fortune.

Yet, this time should also bring a dose of optimism, that the new year will bring a new sense of promise, of hope, and yet another opportunity for us to make a difference for the better in our world, such as Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."

It's all in our outlook. When we feel overpowered and ineffectual, we can still control how we feel and deal with situations. We determine whether we remain positive, whether we make lemonade out of lemons.

What sets towns and communities, businesses and industries, civic and social clubs and organizations apart -- from the thriving and vital to the dead and dying -- can be found in just how many of these "full" people are around.

Our towns are comprised of can-do people with a positive outlook. The pages of our newspaper are regularly full of such people and their contributions.

These "movers and shakers" may have things they'd like to see done differently, so they set about it doing them differently.

The same volunteer cooperation that goes into raising funds to help those who lack or who are beset by illness or misfortune, to constructing city parks, youth playgrounds, to helping our schools, and organizing and taking part in community activities can be found, if one only looks.

For our community, it's clear that the optimistic outlook is never far away.

That spirit is often found in those who came before us, clearing the way through hardships, natural obstacles, and adversity.

A children's book, "Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport," takes a whimsical look at perceptions that are often created by stereotypes and misconceptions.

It describes the journey of a young boy and his family west, leaving the relative "safety" back east. The boy wrestles with a number of concerns -- making new friends, fitting in, and leaving the comfortable behind. That's exemplified in the belief that "Gila monsters meet you at the airport. I know it's so."

En route he meets another boy, who is coming east from the west. This boy too is dealing with the same issues, believing that "crocodiles live in the sewers. I know it's so."

Yet what our main character finds is that his new home is not much different from what he knew before. And the differences are something to be explored and enjoyed. In essence, he returns to youth's natural positive outlook.

Here in our region of the country, it's nice to find a home where "full" is the norm and positive is expected, rather than "half empty" and dwindling.

As we greet the new year, our positive outlook for 2015 will again find ways to manifest itself in furthering the best of our communities.