Here's Hoping...

It has been a hard winter, and according to the calendar, we're only a month into the season. I take heart in the fact that usually January is the nadir of the year--and that it is now half over. Easter is early this year, and, while that may not mean anything to the weather demons, it provides at least a breath of hope that spring will not be far behind. And I do hope.

Hope is something we need right now--a budding confidence that things will be different in the coming year. Resolutions always seem to me to be fraught with the possibility of failure, and personal failure, at that. Whereas hope seems to be a little more gentle, a bit more forgiving. I can work to make my hopes realities, but I can be content with small advances. Resolutions always seem to me to be all-or-nothing, labor-intensive propositions. It's easy to give up on resolutions, but much, much more difficult to give up hope. So, instead of New Year's resolutions this year, I propose a new tradition: hopes for spring.

This year, I hope for a better country.

• I hope for representation I can believe in, a government that believes in the power of its citizens, and citizens who believe in their government, and can accept that there will be no quick fixes for the problems that beset us. I hope for patience for us all.
• I hope for a kinder, gentler media to replace the attack dogs and scandal-scavengers we now employ.
• I hope for greater respect among our political office-holders-- for themselves, for each other, for their constituents.
• And I might as well hope, while I'm at it, for the same for everyone. When it comes right down to it, a little self-respect and respect for others would do a world of good nowadays.
• I hope for a return to some old values--not the George Bush version of 'family values' that translated to rabid conservatism, or (God forbid) the Sarah Palin crazy-quilt of sound bites that purported to express a value framework.
• What I hope for is much more simple: truth, integrity, kindness, tolerance, a work ethic that binds both employee and employer, a social conscience, loyalty, faith, responsibility...and once again, respect all round.

For myself,

• I hope for peace and good health and independence for all my family;
• I hope that we continue to have the support we all need from family and friends.
• I hope for wisdom to make good decisions, for the strength to follow through on my obligations, and for the humility to be grateful for the many gifts and blessings I enjoy.

Of course, all the other resolution-esque 'hopes' are there: losing weight, getting rid of clutter, more exercise, less Facebooking...but they may have already crossed the border into 'pipedreams'. Maybe what I've needed is a bigger canvas. Maybe what I've needed is hope.