It’s hard to believe that 2023 is upon us already.
If you’re like a lot of your fellow Americans, you’ve probably got a list of resolutions you’ll abandon by February.
The end of one year and the beginning of another is a good time for reflection. However, we tend to go overboard, insisting that we must immediately make drastic changes. We create a laundry list of things we’d like to be different in our lives and then attempt to tackle it all at once.
As we’re all painfully aware, this approach rarely works.
The same is true when it comes to working for positive change in our communities. Often, we show up for a presidential election every four years. Maybe we get involved every two years in a legislative race.
Some people get engaged during the Idaho legislative session when egregious bills appear.
Much like New Year’s resolutions, there’s a burst of interest and activity and it all fades away.
Many people wonder why things never seem to change for the better. Sure, we worked hard to force the Legislature to pass more money for education. Legislatures said they set aside all this money for schools. But now that the legislative session is approaching, many of our legislators are talking about “school choice” — code for vouchers designed to pull money out of public education.
Much of that money for our schools is likely going to be diverted. But how many of us will realize it until it’s too late?
One of the reasons I stopped making New Year’s resolutions was that they weren’t working for me. What did I find that worked in my life? A focus on ongoing progress. Smaller steps. Sustainable choices. Setting goals along the way.
Rather than rousing ourselves irregularly to make a big push and hoping that it will be enough, we need to be engaged year-round — every year.
You don’t need to be out protesting on the bridge every day. That’s not what I’m talking about. But how much do you pay attention to what’s going on with the City Council? Can you spare a couple of hours a month to attend a meeting? In 2022, did you realize that a slate of extremists tried their best — using shady tactics — to take over?
Look at what’s been going on with North Idaho College. Extremist trustees have all but ruined a once-proud institution. Some of them tried to get one of their own on the board at the College of Eastern Idaho in 2022. Luckily, it failed.
We don’t have to be on all the time. But we do need to be aware of what’s happening. Investing small amounts of time year-round gives us a better chance to move forward in the long run. Whether it’s becoming a precinct captain and helping to build local infrastructure or volunteering for a non-partisan organization doing good, we’re more likely to succeed in making positive progress if we engage now rather than waiting until the next “big” election.