Town and Country Newspaper

News Article

2013 - Resolve

Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2012-12-26

Here we are, on the eve of another New Year. Either the Mayan calendar, which some say predicted the end of the world on Dec. 21, was incorrect or was misinterpreted. Remember May 21? We made it through that one too.

It’s interesting to see how some people seem to yearn for a time when their enemies will be vanquished by a force of good in some liberating, apocalyptic manner. Especially when their vision is a couple of years away and there’s enough time to sell their recently penned, end-of-the-world tome and make a few bucks.

We’re a little more concerned with the Doomsday Clock maintained by officials of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Originally set at seven minutes to midnight when it was created in 1947, at the onset of the Cold War, it currently points to five minutes before a nuclear doomsday. The most recent time was set just about one year ago. Since then, the talks with Iran regarding their nuclear program have gone nowhere and North Korea launched a missile that could reach U.S. soil. I wonder if the clock will be updated again at the beginning of 2013.

We have little control over Iran and North Korea. But we can help ourselves by doing our part to be a better person. We need to work harder to sustain what’s right and improve what’s wrong.

To guide our readers, in what has become a New Year’s tradition here at the Town and Country newspaper, we offer the following resolutions. They’re not a cure-all – they’re only words. You still need to provide the action. They are simple words that provide a powerful lesson and can be easily adapted to everyday life at home, school, work or even in the halls of local, state and federal government.

The person who penned this bit of wisdom is unknown to history, but the words have been around for decades. The good sense provided by them is timeless.

Place them in a prominent place and read them often.

Resolutions

No one will ever get out of this world alive. Resolve, therefore, to maintain a reasonable sense of values.

Take care of yourself. Good health is everyone’s major source of wealth. Without it, happiness is almost impossible.

Resolve to be cheerful and helpful. People will repay you in kind.

Avoid angry, abrasive persons. They are generally vengeful.

Avoid zealots. They are generally humorless.

Resolve to listen more and talk less. No one ever learned anything by talking.

Be chary of giving advice - wise men don’t need it, and fools won’t heed it.

Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these.

Do not equate money with success. There are many successful moneymakers who are miserable failures as human beings. What counts most about success is how a person achieves it.

In closing, the staff at the Town and Country newspaper wishes all of our readers a safe and promising New Year.

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