Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I have never been a great believer in the idea of New Year’s resolutions.

For some people, citing a resolution may work well to start off a new year on the right foot – and good for them.

For me, if I propose resolutions, I am not sure they carry much weight.  They often just strike me as opaque and far too general.  Plus, given my age, I often forget them in due course.

A columnist in the New York Times agrees with me (or do I agree with her?):

“Does it feel like there’s something gauche — maybe a little anachronistic — about New Year’s resolutions?  They run counter to the idea that we should accept who we are.  That we should give ourselves grace.  Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?  It’s a question that asks someone to believe they are inadequate.

“And I get that.  A colleague argues that resolutions shouldn’t be so grand that we set ourselves up to fail.  Maybe it’s better to admit we won’t improve in the new year — a dose of realism with our Champagne.

“No thanks.  

“But, I love real, down-to-earth resolutions, and I love hearing what work other people choose to do for themselves.  I think there’s a way to be better without believing you are deficient.  A New Year’s resolution is an opportunity to give myself a sense of accomplishment.  A gift to future me.”

So, that said, I have had some thoughts about the new year – thoughts, not “resolutions” — especially as all of us in America contend with the reality that an avowed autocrat, Donald Trump, will be in the White House.

But, at least for this blog, I will not mention blank _______ again.

Instead, my quick thoughts for the new year:

• Practice a choice to be positive

• Practice the Biblical admonition to care for others as you care for yourself

• Remain thankful that my status as a Christian is based on God’s free gift of salvation, something I don’t have to earn by performance

• Continue to be thankful for all members of my family and look out for their well-being in 2025

• Spend time with friends, including, but not only, on the golf course

Beyond my thoughts, I came across another column in the last few days that is worth sharing, at least in the form of excerpts.

Brenda Cronin, associate editorial features editor at the Wall Street Journal wrote under this headline:  “A Very Good Year? That Would Be Nice; The fruits of virtue — civility and cordiality — improve life for everyone”

Her words:

“The start of 2025 feels momentous, meriting more than just another late-December round of resolutions.  America, if not the entire weary world, feels on the cusp of a sea change, and it isn’t clear whether it will be a favorable one.

“With a new era, not merely a new year, upon us, here’s an ambitious notion:  What about making 2025 a return to virtue?  Not virtue signaling, preening or priggish hectoring, but actually being good and doing good.  “Why?  Because the fruits of virtue — among them, civility and cordiality — improve life for everyone and might reverse our culture’s determined downward spiral.

“Good behavior is so overdue it has become unfamiliar.  Beyond America, wars, terrorism, and political chaos are flourishing.  At home, things seem less dire, but a solipsistic skepticism, even suspicion, festers.  Unsurprising, amid headlines about random violence and events that reveal our values as more grape shot than bedrock.  Division is rife and trust diminished, perhaps because the past five-plus years have seen some epic acting out.

“…time has passed and when better than the dwindling days of December to make a lofty resolution?  The optimist in me hopes that virtue fosters peace and prosperity, and ultimately revives the American exceptionalism that has flickered but not been snuffed out.”

Excellent thoughts by Cronin, even though here “dwindling days of December” have dwindled.

One more from me:  Back when I worked at the State Oregon Executive Department, the director there practiced a good art that I have tried to emulate.  This:  Without being trite, he found a way to express thanks to someone every day for doing something for him that helped him through the day.

It’s a solid practice – so, in the new year, I will set out to continue achieving this objective. 

So, if you will, call it a “New Year’s resolution”, but, for me, it’s a way to “practice being positive,” as well as recognizing that someone – perhaps more than just one “someone” – helps me every day.

One of my friends put it very well when he wrote this in an e-mail:

“With all the political infighting and discouraging perspectives on the future, it can be easy to lose sight of many things; good health, close friends, the freedom to come and go as we please, and the ability to exercise what we value through the vote.

“Many people in the world are not as fortunate.  It’s always good to look back and realize how much we really have to be thankful for.”

Well said!

Welcome 2025!