Be thoughtful, patient in new year

It’s that time of year.
The calendar is winding down, and the new year lies just across the horizon.
Inevitably, the notion of New Year’s resolutions comes up.
If you’re looking for suggestions, ones that might make a meaningful difference in your community, here are a few:
•Be informed. In many ways, that’s the price of citizenship. Sure, we’re all entitled to our opinions. But unless those opinions have some grounding in fact, they’re not worth very much.
Do your homework. It’s not that hard.
You have a distinct advantage over many of your fellow Americans. You live in a community with locally owned media.
Why does that matter? Because the people who put out The Commerical Review and The News and Sun and the folks who broadcast on WPGW live here. All of them have a stake in the community and its future.
So if those people are going to do their part, it only makes sense for you to do your part. Become informed. Read the newspaper. Listen to the radio. And go beyond that, engage your friends and neighbors in conversation and listen to what they have to say.
•Be open-minded. That doesn’t mean not having an opinion. It means being ready to listen to the opinions of others.
This community is faced with complicated issues. Confined animal farming is one that comes immediately to mind. Approaching those issues with an open mind allows you to hear the conflicting opinions, the differing points of view and sometimes contradictory sets of facts.
Hear something you don’t agree with or don’t understand? Take a few minutes to wrap your mind around the problem. Empathize as best you can with those who might see things differently. Do that, and you’ll have a better understanding of the larger picture.
•Be patient. Be patient with others, and be patient with yourself. Knowledge is something we build, not something we’re born with. And if you want to leave 2015 smarter than you went in, patience is a must.
Happy New Year. —J.R.