Hopes and Dreams for 2025

No Resolutions but a Resolve to Continue Fighting for Justice

As we edge closer to 2025, my inbox is overflowing with urgent reminders about donating before the clock strikes midnight. I’d love to give in those final moments, but a financial crisis has tied my hands. When the New Year rolls around, I don’t make resolutions; I take a moment to reflect on my journey so far. This reflection fuels my determination and helps me stay aligned with my ultimate goal: to create a better world for everyone, one day at a time. Every small step counts, and I’m committed to making each day matter.

The first Friday of the New Year will mark forty-four months since my wife died. Maria Popova wrote in The Marginalian a message about managing and growing from our most difficult times.

Just as there are transitional times in the life of the world — dark periods of disorientation between two world systems, periods in which humanity loses the ability to comprehend itself and collapses into chaos in order to rebuild itself around a new organizing principle — there are such times in every human life, times when the entire system seems to cave in and curl up into a catatonia of anguish and confusion, difficult yet necessary for our growth.

The darkness wrapped around me like a thick fog, leaving me disoriented and afraid of losing my way. My life felt precariously balanced on a fragile thread, yet I found solace in taking each day as it came. I let my grief wash over me like waves, and in that raw vulnerability, I discovered a new path forward that preserved Jan’s love in my heart while allowing me to evolve into a better version of myself. Looking back, it seems more manageable now, but there were days when simply making it to sunset felt like a monumental challenge. Each moment was a struggle, but it was in that struggle that I began to find my strength.

Earlier this year, my friend Danny lifted my spirits with encouraging words: “You are an incredible person! You are a new person! A better person!” It’s incredible how a sprinkle of positivity can illuminate the path ahead. While I wholeheartedly appreciate his reassurances, I see myself as a work in progress, fully aware that there’s always more growth to embrace. The journey continues, and I’m excited to see where it leads!

Love, as Viktor Frankl wrote, “is the ultimate and highest goal to which humanity can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of humanity is through Love and in Love.”

As we look forward to 2025, I will begin each morning as I do every day by saying, “Grateful am I, Adonai, for the gift of life.” I will listen deeply during my daily walks, embrace new opportunities, and step boldly into the future. I send heartfelt blessings of joy and happiness to my family, friends, neighbors, and all the wonderful strangers I have encountered and those I have yet to meet. I eagerly anticipate walking alongside each of you in our shared journey to heal and uplift the world together. Let’s make the coming year transformative!