Well it looks as if we've finally had a white Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and allow me to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year.

The coming of January often invites us to make New Year's resolutions. Upon closer examination, these psychological contracts are quite fascinating in that they are contracts. They are promises, commitments we make to ourselves that we have every intention of keeping, at least at the outset. The actions we hope to bring about by these commitments are important; if they were not, we would simply perform them without taking pains to tell ourselves to do so. Oftentimes we fail to keep these promises. Sometimes we are able to keep them. In these trying times, I thought it fitting to offer up a few New Year's resolutions - besides going to the gym - that I think would be very worthwhile to keep.

Volunteering. Our town has innumerable agencies that provide services to our residents, the importance of which cannot be overstated. Our animal shelter relies on volunteers to help keep the animals healthy and happy until a loving family can adopt them. Many of our town's senior citizen centers benefit even from the hour or two per week to which a student can commit. Especially during the cold winter months, the necessity of having soup kitchens and homeless shelters that are fully staffed is quite apparent. Local libraries rely on volunteers to plan lectures and workshops. Finally, most fire departments rely on volunteers to fill their ranks. These are just a few examples. Let us all consider what free time we have that might benefit others.

Staying in Touch. Too many times over the last few weeks I have heard myself apologizing to a relative or old friend for only getting around to calling them during the holidays. We should resolve to remind ourselves at other times of the year of the people we love and care about, and not let the distance between us and them grow too large.

Sense of community. Our sense that we belong to a community is perhaps most fostered by our relationships with our immediate neighbors - those who live next door, across the street, or around the block. We should get to know them: find out what is going on in their lives, and how their children are. When I moved into my house, my neighbors all came over to introduce themselves, welcome me to the neighborhood and ask if I needed anything. That was when I knew that I had moved to the right place.

Contributing to our sense of community, giving back to it, and communicating often with those who are important to us are surely precursors to that which should be our fundamental New Year's resolution: peace on earth. We all hear this cliché and our hearts drop and we grow tired because we have been hearing this phrase for too long. But let us keep striving for it at the local level and in our hearts, and hope that our example will be one that shines on for future generations.