DEAR READERS: Welcome to 2025. The New Year has arrived; the last one is safely behind us. As always, this New Year brings with it our hopes for a new beginning.
Today is an opportunity to ditch old destructive habits for healthy new ones, and with that in mind, I’m going to share Dear Abby’s oft-requested list of New Year’s Resolutions—which were adapted by my mom the late Pauline Phillips, from Al-Anon’s original creed:
ONLY FOR TODAY: I will live only this day. I won’t think about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I won’t set big goals or try to overcome all my problems at once. I know I can do something in 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to do it for a lifetime.
ONLY FOR TODAY: I will decide to be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will drive them away and fill it with sunshine.
ONLY FOR TODAY: I’ll accept what it is. I will face reality. I will correct the things I can correct and accept the things I cannot.
ONLY FOR TODAY: I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. I will not be a poor man mentally.
ONLY FOR TODAY: I will make a conscious effort to be nice. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path and will not speak ill of others. I will improve my appearance, speak softly and not interrupt when someone else is speaking. Just for today, I will refrain from improving anyone but myself.
ONLY FOR TODAY: I will do something positive to improve my health. If I’m a smoker, I’ll quit. And I’ll get off the couch and go for a brisk walk, even if it’s just around the block.
ONLY FOR TODAY: I will have the courage to do what is right and take responsibility for my actions.
And now, dear readers, let me share an article sent to me by LJ Bhatia, a reader from New Delhi, India:
DEAR ABBY: This year, there are no resolutions, just some guidelines. The Holy Vedas say: “Man has subjected himself to thousands of self-inflicted bondages. Wisdom comes to a man who lives by the true eternal laws of nature.”
The prayer of St. Francis (of which there are several versions) contains a powerful message:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hate, let me sow love;
Where there is hurt, I’m sorry;
Where there is doubt, trust;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, there is light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
I am sorry that I cannot so much ask to be comforted as to comfort;
To be understood, how to understand;
To be loved, as you will;
Because we receive in giving,
It is in forgiveness that we are forgiven,
And it is in death that we are born to eternal life.
And so, dear readers, may the year 2025 bring health, peace and joy to us all. – LOVE, ABBY
Dear Abby was written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at http://www.DearAbby.com or PO Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
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