As a new year begins to appear above the horizon, many  start reflecting on the year past and ponder the future. 

 

What could I have done to make this past year more fruitful? What can one do to make 2017 better yet?

 

When questions like this emerge in ones mind, resolutions begin to blossom and hope for a brighter future pushes us through the dark doldrums of a cold winter.

 

Oh 2016.

 

It’s considered by many to be one of the worst year ever. The terror attacks, the election cycle, Kaepernick kneeling, police shootings, Syria, Harambe, Zika and of course the tragic deaths of Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Glenn Frey, Nancy Reagan, Patty Duke, Muhammed Ali, Gordie Howe, Gene Wilder, Arnold Palmer, Florence Henderson, Fidel Castro, John Glenn, Alan Thicke, Zsa Zsa Gabor — and most recently,  George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.

 

 When holiday bills are high, temperatures low, and the days too short, some people resort to exercise, music and travel to overcome the wintry blues and bolster ones confidence in the new year.

 

Here are a few area citizens who are shedding 2016’s cold cloak of reproof and donning the warm sunshine of hope for 2017:

 

Jaime is a new mom (October) and her plan is to try and better herself in 2017 and spend more quality time with her family. 

 

“With becoming a new mom this past October, family is that much more important to me,” she said. “And I want to be able to spend the new year making new memories and being around those I love.”

 

Jaime is engaged to Michael Moore, who is the father of their two-month-old son, Devan.

 

“I'm going into 2017 with a fresh start, open mind and plan to live life one day at a time,” Jaime said.

 

“My New Year resolution is to be successful in my driving because I am new in the states,” said Groethe.

 

Gwyn is from the Philippines and is having mixed emotions because it’s her first Christmas and New Years away from her family. She plans to Skype her mother and siblings — and is still reeling from losing her father to cancer just two months ago.

 

“Its hard for me to do things (in USA) because I can't drive and I need to find work to pay my debt back in my country,” Gwyn said.

 

The debt is associated with her father’s fight with cancer. 

 

“We (husband John and son Karl) plan to celebrate new year  here in USA and have some foods,” she said. “Happy New Year and God bless!”

 

Nancy, the wife of Becker City Councilman Rick, said she plans on loving more, judging less and treating each day as the gift it is.

 

“(I plan on) showing people how much they matter and not taking anyone or any situation for granted,” she said. “Being brave. loving people with the same love Jesus gives to me in new abundance everyday.”

 

Andrew is a senior at Becker High School and a cashier at Little Dukes in Big Lake. His job is befitting the young man who is friendly, outgoing and charismatic.

 

“My new years resolution is to put a smile on someone's face everyday,” Andrew says. “It’s cheesy but it works.”

 

A New Year's resolution is a tradition in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something slightly nice, such as opening doors for people beginning from New Year's Day.

 

Let’s all take a tiny step to doing so in 2017.

 

Happy New Year!