I have never been someone who believes in the “New Year, New Me” mentality.

Actually, if I am being honest with myself, the “Old Me” is usually just trying to do the best she possibly can to make it through the day.

And yet, every year, as the calendar page turns to January, and the echoes of “Auld Lang Syne” fade into winter’s chill, I find myself sitting at my kitchen table … a notebook and very ambitious pen in hand.

Usually, these resolutions look more like a laundry list of things I believe I should be doing.

I don’t do this every year.

Why?

Because nothing ever really changes for me — unless it goes from bad to worse.

Then there are times I really do try.

I make an attempt to create a list of things I would like to change or expand on to make the year go better than the one which just passed by.

In a matter of blinks.

Things such as eating more vegetables or fruits.

Maybe it is the idea of taking part in the city’s annual 5K Run/Walk … even though my preferred pace is meanderin.

Usually though, I find myself telling my notebook that I will finally try to organize that one junk drawer in my kitchen that has become more of a graveyard where mystery keys and expired coupons lie.

But this year, this year when I look out at the frost on the hilltops, I am feeling as if I am being pulled toward something more meaningful than just cleaning, running or eating right.

Maybe, just maybe, instead of resolving to change who we are, we should instead resolve to change how we treat the world.

How we treat each other.

And we should definitely resolve how we treat ourselves in the process.

Perhaps we focus on resolutions that actually matter.

Instead of focusing on the bathroom scale or the clutter down in the basement or in the attic, what if we looked at the clutter that is inside our hearts?

Sure, wanting to stop smoking or wanting to lose weight is a wonderful idea.

However, this year, I think we could all stand to think with a new perspective in mind.

Not the usual list on everyone’s agenda.

How about making a resolution of presence?

We live in a world full of screens and “one more minute” distractions.

I believe we should resolve to put our phones face-down.

At least once in a while.

Put your phone down during a family dinner.

Put your phone down whenever a friend is sharing their heart with you.

Perhaps we need to be a little more compassionate and pay attention to their words. Let us be where our feet are.

Maybe we could make the resolution of grace.

We are often our own harshest critics. Aren’t we?

If you wouldn’t say something to a dear friend, then why do we say it to ourselves in the mirror?

Despite what glamour magazines and models tell us, we should trade perfectionism for a little bit of breathing room.

I think we should all make a resolution of community.

Our area is built on the strength of neighbors helping neighbors.

Whether it is checking on the senior citizen down the street during a snowstorm or supporting a local bake sale or baseball team that is collecting at the grocery store, let us resolve to show up for each other.

How about we make the resolution to have gratitude?

It is so easy to look at the world and see the gaps that are there.

To see the “not-enoughs.”

This year, let’s make a habit of naming the good things.

Even if it is just a hot cup of coffee on a Monday morning.

Or a sunset that paints the sky in shades of orange and pink.

There is always, always something to be grateful for and to appreciate.

Always.

We need to make 2026 a fresh start. Not a finish line.

The beauty of a new year is not that it will magically fix everything that is wrong in your life overnight.

That never happens.

But a new year is simply a reminder that we get to try again.

We get another year which so many unfortunately do not.

And we need to take advantage of that.

We need to be thankful that we get to see the number on the end of the calendar go another digit higher.

It is a gift and a blessing.

Something else in which we can apprecaite.

If you resolve to be kinder and you lose your cool by Jan. 3, you haven’t failed.

You have just found a new opportunity in which to practice.

Think of it that way.

Life in our corner of the world moves at its own pace.

And there is a comfort in that.

As we step into this next year, let us not get caught up in the pressure to be “new.”

In doing so, you will only find more disappointment.

How about we just aim to be a little more intentional?

How about we aim to be a little more patient and a lot more thankful for the journey we’re on?

I will certainly do my part.

I hope someone out there reading this may do the same.

From my home to yours, I wish you a year filled with simple joys.

I wish for you the kind of peace that stays long after the holiday decorations have been put away.

And I wish for you the wisdom to understand what we really should be writing down when we sit at the kitchen table or in our office with our notebook or laptop or cell phone and create our New Year’s resolutions for 2026.

Happy New Year.

(Stenger is the community editor for the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times newspapers. She can be contacted at jstenger@heraldstaronline.com.)