Happy New Year!
I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season with family and friends. The first of the year always finds most of us making New Year’s resolutions, with the very best intentions of keeping them. Resolutions usually require quite a bit of thought, with most of them having to do with personal issues: exercise, diet, finances, devoting more time to be with family, vacations, committing more time to volunteer work, getting to those small jobs (to-do list) you’ve been intending to get done, etc. Sometimes, our list of resolutions can be quite lengthy!
This upcoming year looks to be a busy one during the legislative interim; in addition, we are facing many changes in the health care industry. As you take this time to reflect on the previous year and plan for 2014, I’d like to encourage you to consider making a few county resolutions, as well: finances, improving areas specific to your individual counties, having a vision for your county, remembering your staff with kind words each day, and slowing down to appreciate the smaller things.
As county leaders, we all forget sometimes that many people are watching everything we do. In Mother Teresa’s “Do It Anyway,” Mother Teresa suggests that while people are often unreasonable, we need to “forgive them anyway.” The poem goes on to say that in spite of the situation, we need to “be kind anyway…be honest and sincere anyway…create anyway…give your best anyway.” These few sayings are all resolutions in themselves.
As we start this New Year, think about what you can do to motivate others around you to set a few realistic and reachable resolutions. You can be a great colleague and follow up with encouragement to help them achieve their resolutions, no matter how small. Smaller successes offer satisfaction, which in turn leads to a feeling of fulfillment. Along with you being successful with your resolutions, inspire those you meet to fulfill theirs. After all, isn’t that what life is about, encouraging and helping others?
Here’s wishing each of you a prosperous New Year!
Patti Jones