I wish you a Happy New Year—2023 is ending with good, bad, and likely a few ugly memories. 2024 is on the horizon—a blank canvas for which we can draw, paint, or imagine whatever we want. Isn’t that a lovely thought?

What do you think about as the new year approaches? Making and keeping a budget, losing weight, exercising more, cleaning the garage, or taking a trip is the short list of endless possible ways to improve your life. New Year’s resolutions are not usually successful, but they help us evaluate and set goals.

HOPE is a keyword when we let go of something old, such as 2023, and look into the unknown future. What do YOU hope for 2024?

If I want to succeed, my hope has to be within my control. For example, I can hope all political ads are banned—not in my control. But turning off the TV and placing boundaries on my screen time is in my control.

Another example: I can hope to lose five pounds and be successful because I have total control over what I chew and swallow.

Another: I can hope for peace on earth, but I don’t control the earth. I do have control of me having peace of mind because I control 100% of my thoughts. Remember the equation E + R = O; Event + Reaction = Outcome. I usually cannot do anything about the Event, because it’s in the past. But I have control of my Reaction to the Event, which determines what level of peace or acceptance I feel in my body—Outcome. My Reaction highly contributes to the peace I experience in my tiny spot on this earth.

Hope requires optimism. Little hope is possible for 2024 if I continually think, “Oh, it will just be the same blah, blah, blah all over again.” Hope starts inside me—it doesn’t knock on my front door or fall from the sky. Eeyore, in Winnie-the-Pooh, is an example of a character who is too sad and pessimistic to have much hope.

Hope also needs courage. It’s scary to change, or to risk failure. Courage is what it takes to feel the fear and do it anyway.

The more hope I want for 2024, the more optimistic and courageous I must be. Think of this new equation: O + C = H: Optimism + Courage = Hope.

Nicholas Sparks wrote in “The Notebook”, “It’s the possibility (hope) that keeps me going, not the guarantee.”

As I stare at the blank canvas of 2024 while glancing in the rearview mirror, I hope to write a new book, do a little drawing and painting, travel on a train, and truly live while I live.

I wish us all hope for 2024.

Until the next time: Live while you live.

Jennifer Goble, Ph.D., LPC, is the author of “My Clients…My Teachers,” and the blogger and writer of Rural Women Stories: www.ruralwomenstories.com.

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