Categories: Hazel Rosetta Smith,
A new year has begun. We are moving along into the second week of 2026, and our mind is bringing to memory what we did and did not accomplish in the 365 days of 2025.
Unfortunately, because of a tendency to procrastinate, many have not moved forward in their wholehearted resolutions in 2025. They find themselves stuck in the same situations with slight change.
It may not have been possible to make major changes in your circumstances because of financial setbacks or fixed income. Hopes do cost and dreams have a responsibility to bring to fruition, yet neither is impossible.
A minor achievement is as rewarding as a major one. You could not take that vacation away that you had planned and your heart is disappointed as you listen to friends boast about their cruises and flights to foreign places.
Covetousness is not your character, yet you fight hard not to be jealous of their adventurous lifestyle. Travel is what they do, and they certainly have the right to share their endeavors, however that does not make you any less or your activities less valid.
Life is meant to be enjoyed and celebrated in ways that suit the desires of one’s heart and the individual capabilities and opportunities to create what their choice is.
Someone who enjoys reading is living vicariously through the words of the writer. Those who choose to go to a movie theatre or a Broadway play are spending two or three hours away from home captured by film and live entertainment.
Many people enjoy a weekend at their favorite resort hotel which offers live entertainment and the bright lights and resounding rings of the gambling machines. Buses leave from the Port Authority regularly for those who prefer a day’s roundtrip ticket.
I offer you words of encouragement to inspire and lift your spirit as we move throughout the new year. Do this for you.
Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To speak good health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something special in them.
To look first at the hopeful side of things.
To think only of the best, work only for the best and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past, and press onto the greater achievements of the future.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
[Hazel Rosetta Smith is a journalist, playwright, and artistic director of Help Somebody Theatrical Ministries. Retired, former Managing Editor of the New York Beacon. Contact: misshazel@twc.com and hazelrosettasmith.com]
