It’s that time of year. The time we all weigh our lives (or ourselves) and find things … wanting. So we decide to make a change. It lasts two weeks before the new kettlebell slides into the corner to collect dust, or the organo-healthy quinoa-tofu “bread” gets unceremoniously trashed. It’s depressing; you dread this season not because resolutions are bad, but because deep down you “know” they (and you) are going to fail this year just the same as last year.

A lot of us are stymied by the evasive nature of personal resolution success. As a libertarian, you should be a rugged individual capable of forging your own way, right? So why is this so hard? A suggestion: if you only have to answer to you for whatever it is you’re doing, it’s easy to cut yourself a little too much slack, hit pause a little too fast, and give yourself “permission” to fail one more time.

Here I offer you four potential resolutions that take you outside yourself a little bit. These are in no particular order. Different ones will jump out at different people for different reasons, and that’s fine. You do you. Just do something.

Donate blood

Giving blood is about as voluntaryist as it gets. Blood can’t be synthetically duplicated. It must come from individual people, a little bit at a time. Starting regular blood donations (you can give a regular unit every 56 days) makes you part of a lifesaving network. You might get a cookie and a bottle of juice after donating, but your blood will save the life of a kid who gets hit by a car next week. That’s a great thing to be part of. Blood banks also do some basic biometric checks at every donation (blood pressure, sugar, iron, etc.), making it a low-key (and free) way to monitor those numbers. Not everyone can give blood, for various reasons, but find your local blood bank and give regularly if you can.

Pray

If you’re not religious, then call this meditation, daily reflection, kata, or even journaling. The world we live in demands too much attention be paid to too much stupid minutiae. You need to take a regular break from that, and touch something beyond your immediate perception. Kneel before whatever power moves you (recognizing that as a libertarian you cannot force anyone else to kneel alongside you), and take a moment each day to look beyond yourself and consider your place in the grand cosmic thing we call life. It will center you and help you discipline your attention for the rest of every day.

“Adopt” a person in need and help them

There is a ton of moaning going on right now about who will “take care” of folks in need. You’re a libertarian, so you know full well you have a part to play in that. Look around among your family, at church, at work, your neighbors, or wherever. You will find somebody who needs a helpful friend. Be that friend. Maybe there’s a family that needs help with school supplies (or tutoring, or babysitting). Maybe a retiree or disabled vet needs rides to the doctor (or the grocery store, or the welfare office). Maybe a co-worker just needs somebody to have lunch with once in a while. No one person can help everybody. But if every person found another person to help, and voluntarily (and persistently) helped that person, many of the problems in many communities would ease, and potentially disappear.

Meet your neighbors

Be honest: do you even know their names? It’s time to learn. The New Year gives you a great excuse. Make some cookies and go meet (or re-meet) your neighbors. If you meet enough of them, get really ambitious and organize a meet-and-greet block party (or house party if you live in a place where it’s freezing outside). Not knowing your neighbors is a result of our online age, but it can be corrected. All it takes is a plate of cookies and a smile.

The opinions shared here do not necessarily represent the official position of the Libertarian Party. These editorial articles have been submitted by Libertarians across the country, and featuring these topics does not represent an endorsement of the content therein.

The opinions shared here do not necessarily represent the official position of the Libertarian Party. These editorial articles have been submitted by Libertarians across the country, and featuring these topics does not represent an endorsement of the content therein.