Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Do you keep them? Are the resolutions themselves really new, or is it just the turning of the date of Jan. 1 that sets off a reminder of the changes, promises and behavior corrections that you should be working on all year round? Are they a slap in the face that if you had taken the resolutions more seriously the first time out the gate you could have accomplished them many times over by now?

I am very appreciative that a “New Year” does give all of us that little heads up that the clock is ticking and our time to accomplish things does indeed have an expiration date. For me, the fact that I will be 41 this month is another excellent reminder that I am nearly half way into my shelf life. How do I feel about that? I feel pretty good. Sure there are things I would have done differently or changed, but overall, it is what it is and all I can do is learn from these experiences and pay more attention to not making the same mistakes going forward.

This year, what I have in the way of resolutions has less to do with personal issues and more to do with my public involvement and civic participation, that whole “seat at the table” idea I wrote about last week. I resolve to complete my third year on the Bremerton School District Finance Committee. I resolve to attend at least one Bremerton School Board meeting a month. I resolve to pay much more attention to what the Bremerton City Council is doing, or most times, NOT doing. I resolve to do everything I can in my power as a citizen to see that the damaging blight of Diamond Parking is removed from the City of Bremerton forever. I have also resolved to follow through on providing a certain amount of individual testimony to legislative committees in Olympia during this next session, in regards to my good and bad experiences as an involved parent in the current education system.

Do you have any personal or civic resolutions this year? Will this be the year you follow through and accomplish the goals you set for yourself? I hope so. I hope we can all do a little better when it comes to recognizing our shortcomings as well as our advantages. Let’s resolve to work a little harder or have a little more patience for our friends, neighbors and fellow city dwellers.

It’s another year Bremer-ton. Right now the possibilities for improvements are wide open. What is your resolution?