New Year’s Fireworks, Copyright © 2011 NSL Photography. All Rights Reserved.
This year I set my New Year’s resolutions in a different way.
I resolve that out of the corner of my eye, I’ll notice something new that will delight me.
- I resolve to accept that some people will gain (temporary) power by ostracizing others, amplifying fears, and racing to the bottom. I won’t follow their example.
- I resolve that something obvious to everyone else will become obvious to me.
- I resolve to explain something obvious to me to another. It may become obvious to them as well.
- I resolve not to become part of a pop-culture emergency everyone is talking about, distracting me from the actual work at hand.
- I resolve that I’ll gain new leverage and the ability to make even more of a difference.
- I resolve to believe that everything everyone fears won’t come to pass.
- I resolve to continue my long-term climb toward connection, dignity, and possibility. Slowly, but surely.
- Opportunities will be missed. Lessons will be learned.
- I resolve to say or write something that will shine a light, open a door, make a connection, and expose the truth.
- I resolve to accept that nothing will be as perfect as I initially imagined it. Many things will be far better, though.
- I resolve to take leaps.
- I resolve to exceed expectations.
- I resolve to see new ways that my projects will begin to pay off.
- I will start something. And quit something.
- I resolve to keep helping myself. No one else does it as well.
- I know I will forget some hard lessons but I’ll also learn some new ones.
- I resolve to work with the airlines, hotels, rental car, and travel providers rather than always against them when it seems the right thing to do.
A pretty safe list, because, of course, this always happens.
Plus, I resolve to take up playing guitar and piano once again. Playing both were an endless source of joy for both others and me. I want to experience the unity and expression that only comes through music again as a participant. This resolution is not so certain, but writing it down makes it more so.
READ ALSO:
Six Christmas dreams for travelers in 2026
His next trip could be riskier than he thought — then he received the crime levels
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
