We all live in a busy, chaotic time and we’ve recently returned to the daily madness. Many of us took a chance to reflect on what we left behind in 2023. With so much noise and so many demands, setting aside time to develop resolutions to ensure that 2024 is a year of prosperity and joy may not be high on your priority list. No doubt you may have been mulling over traditional resolutions about taking more steps each day or hopping on the Mediterranean diet train, but I challenge you to look at the possibility of resolutions through a much broader lens.
Roger Rosenblatt penned a great Guest Essay for the New York Times on December 26, 2023, titled “This Year, Make a Resolution About Something Bigger Than Yourself,” that expands how we view our capacity for personal impact.
In his essay, Mr. Rosenblatt hits on a theme that we’ve all wrestled with recently. How can I – one person – make things better when so much in our world is going terribly wrong? His answer is simple – make the decision to do something to bring about change in your own community.
“What will you do – right now, this week, this month – to make a better world?… Lend a hand. Offer a word of comfort or inspiration or support or love. Donate money, or, most valuable of all, time. There are so many ways to move this world, right within reach.
The beautiful irony of all this, of course, is that selflessness is not the opposite of self-improvement. Selflessness is self-improvement – the most meaningful and lasting kind.
Practice it, and you may just find that the new year is, in fact, a step up from the last. You may find that, all at once, you look and feel better than you would have after any amount of dieting or exercise. Unburdened of ego. Lighter on your feet. Say, haven’t you lost weight?”
As lawyers we have a talent to share, and our community is desperately in need of what we can bring to the table. Cross off your 2024 resolutions with SALSA and create a positive impact in the lives of others while improving your own.