For me community is synonymous with Friendship as my friends are important in my life; however, for you it may represent your church, philanthropy, or perhaps a township.  The point of community is relating to others, whether that is a social group, commonality of beliefs and values, or a geographical area—enhancing, building, and supporting our community is what makes our society great.

Just last week an elderly neighbor of a friend who served in WWII (that’s World War II in the 1940’s) say that he was ‘heartbroken by today’s society’.  He fought and lost friends and family for our American freedoms and a way of life that is not even recognizable anymore…he fought against dictatorship and socialism and yet, we are becoming that socialist society he fought against. This is what I call governmental socialism (taxation and wealth redistribution, with a few making the decisions that impact the major-majority).

For me community is not a government form of socialism, but a personal form of socialism—where I choose to put others first, choose to share with those in need, choose to give time and effort to make a better world.

I pulled the quote, Don’t think less of self—think of self less, as the theme I want to use for the year…my form of personal socialism.  To achieve this goal, I will commit to things I can do to support my friends and neighbors, such as remembering birthdays, being a good listener, and being inclusive. It includes being forgiving, finding beauty in ugliness, and making every effort to be positive. For my vision board I added clippings of presents, books, and reminders to prompt me to be a better person.  The easiest thing we can call do for community is to give a smile to a stranger (I promise they will smile back).

Lagniappe. The image is of the Community Goals on my Resolution Board.

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