Maybe you aren’t in the mood for resolutions this year but this time of season does allow us to do a bit of reflecting on the past and projecting into 2025. So much has been written and spoken about having some type of goal or aspiration for the new year that the older you get, the less (or more) it makes sense to think about what you want to accomplish in the newest of the many years we have been around.

This columnist has, at length, written about the future of Moffat County and the surrounding areas of our state and country. Heading into 2025 should be an exciting time as we continue the challenges presented to us by our Governor and the potential for changes brought on by our newly-elected President. It will be interesting to watch what unfolds in the next 4 years as far as energy production and our role in the great debate about how we sustain enough electricity to satisfy the many consumers.

But as 2025 unfolds it’s with a certain amount of resoluteness that will make our trek into the year one that unfolds with success. Each of us will have goals and aspirations for making ourselves better and one would hope those around us will benefit from our improvement in our physical, mental, emotional or spiritual health.

If you are getting excited about another year and are looking forward to 365 days of working hard to achieve some particular dream then you wake up each day thinking that this is another opportunity to make the best of what is our current reality. If you aren’t as motivated about another year then hopefully there are people around you that can help you find a way to approach the next many days with a view toward understanding that life, with it many challenges and complexities, is, at minimum, better than the alternative.

The resolute desk that sits in the Oval Office of the White House in our nation’s capitol offers us a hopeful and useful example of how we can get through the challenging days ahead. The desk was a gift from Queen Victoria way back in the 1800s as a gesture of thanks for rescuing a British ship stranded in the Arctic, repairing it, and then returning it to the U.K. But what stands out about the desk is how it’s designed.

The desk features two sides which are intended for two people to sit across from each other. The desk symbolizes how important it is that we understand just how important it is to work together if we want to achieve any type of lasting success which most often includes getting to know someone a little bit better than we might have before. It might be more productive if we each had to face the person we are choosing to have issues with and, at least, have a conversation. A little less casting of aspersions from afar over social media keyboard clacks and a little more understanding of our shared humanity with some face-to-face listening to each other. Doesn’t mean we will always agree but it forces each one of us to see the person as more than an object of our disparagement.

Maybe resolutions aren’t your thing and you get tired of watching people getting all hyped about doing something and then 10 days into the new year they are back to being who they were in 2024. Well, that is always a possibility but I still believe wholeheartedly that deep within the DNA of our humanity, we strive for making things better for ourselves and those around us. Hope springs eternal in my world and as far as I’m concerned the future looks bright if we resolutely work to begin with improving ourselves then sit down across from (or at least beside) those we care about, or maybe have disagreements with, and have a conversation.

Be resolute this year and remember how important it is to listen and that we each have a story worth sharing.

My best to each of you in 2025. Any conversations you think might be worthwhile in a column in 2025? Email me at: lance@columnist.com

Lance Scranton is a career educator and has made his home in Moffat County for the past 26 years. He offers his views and opinions as part of the ongoing conversation about our community, country and world. Reach him at lance@columnist.com