It’s a new year: There will be chances to do good right here, right now, if we commit

As the new year dawns, it is natural to look back and take stock. We also look forward and make resolutions. This process of evaluating and resolving is a useful method on the path to living well.

Wisdom develops when we take inventory of our lives. What we found or invented — and what we lost. Moral energy springs from the desire to live better. What can we improve — and what should we let go? These questions can give us clearer insight and renewed vitality.

A spiritual method that combines self-evaluation with tenacious resolve can help us live well every day of the year. Benjamin Franklin explained in his autobiography that his daily ritual involved two questions. In the morning Franklin asked himself, “What good shall I do today?” And in the evening, he asked, “What good have I done?”

Of course, this process can malfunction. When pessimists take stock, they shudder and groan. The past year included loss and grief, war and fear. For some this is overwhelming. Pessimism is personified in Eeyore, the mopey donkey from “Winnie the Pooh.” When it rains, he says “The sky is falling. I always knew it would.”

At the end of the year, the Eeyores of the world lay out a catalog of regrets and complaints. But the pessimist’s year-end list is too one-sided. It is not wise to dwell too long on failure and loss. Something is always lost. But new things are found. And the winter showers give us flowers and fruit. Of course, that does not happen unless we plant, prune, and prepare.

Naïve optimism is also dysfunctional. One cannot simply ignore the rain. Life includes storms and death, wickedness and stupidity. The optimist ignores this. He is quick to make a resolution and leap into the future. He is like Tigger, bounding with enthusiasm. But as Tigger bounces along, he fails to plan for trouble. When his resolutions fail to pan out, he shrugs and makes another one.

Pure optimism can be joyful. But vital energy needs discipline and direction. The Tiggers of the world lack seriousness and depth. It’s not true that every cloud has a silver lining. Some lost things are never found again.

Wisdom resides in the middle, somewhere between Eeyore and Tigger. It avoids the extremes by understanding the need for labor and creative intelligence. When it rains, we can patch our roofs and use our umbrellas. The middle path involves getting to work and actively responding to challenges as they arise.

One useful source of this idea can be found in the writings of the great American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. His work is infused with what he calls “the optimism of nature.” Nature’s cycles are not only destructive. They are also creative. But nature’s process is longer than our short attention spans. Its simplicity exceeds our grasp. The key is to connect human intellect to the “wild fertility of nature.”

This is a typically American point of view. It sees the world as a work in progress, in which human creativity plays a crucial part. This is not passive hopefulness. It is a kind of zest and vitality that enjoys solving problems and building something new. This practical enthusiasm does not mean that everything always works out as we want it to. Rather, Emerson tells us to find our vocation and respond to the call of nature and history.

A simpler way of putting this is to bloom where you are planted. The Eeyores of the world fail to understand that there are opportunities to do good right here, right now. The Tiggers bounce away into the pipe dreams of their enthusiasm. But the heroes of the moment respond to the challenges of the present with tenacity and practical know-how.

Emerson tells us to “love the world of this hour.” The universe put you here, now. It is up to you to “be a gift and a benediction.” You can make this moment and the coming year a good one. We do this by learning from the past and resolving to do better in the future. So, let’s ask ourselves what good we have done and what good we intend to do.

This story was originally published January 1, 2023 at 5:30 AM with the headline "It’s a new year: There will be chances to do good right here, right now, if we commit."