DEAR READERS: Welcome to 2026! The new year has come; the last one is safely behind us. As always, this New Year brings with it our hopes for a new beginning.
Today is an opportunity to ditch destructive old habits for healthy new ones, and with that in mind, I’m sharing Dear Abby’s oft-requested list of New Year’s resolutions—as adapted by my late mother, Pauline Phillips, from the original Al-Anon creed:
JUST FOR TODAY: I WILL LIVE ONLY FOR THIS DAY. I will not think about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all my problems at once. I know I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to do it for a lifetime.
JUST FOR TODAY: I choose to be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.
JUST FOR TODAY: I accept what is. I will face reality. I will fix the things I can fix and accept the things I can’t.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. I will not be a mental slacker.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will make a conscious effort to be pleasant. I will be kind and polite to those who cross my path and will not speak ill of others. I will improve my appearance, speak quietly and not interrupt when someone else is speaking. Just for today, I will refrain from improving anyone but myself.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will do something positive to improve my health. If I’m a smoker, I’ll quit. And I’ll get off the couch and walk briskly, even if it’s just around the block.
JUST FOR TODAY: I gather the courage to do what is right and take responsibility for my own actions.
And now, dear readers, let me share an item sent to me by LJ Bhatia, a reader from New Delhi, India:
DEAR ABBY: No resolutions this year, just some guidelines. The holy Vedas say: “Man has subjected himself to thousands of self-inflicted servitudes. Wisdom comes to man who lives according to the true eternal laws of nature.”
The prayer of Saint Francis (of which there are several versions) contains a powerful message: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; Where there is hate, let me sow love; Where’s the hurt, I’m sorry;
Where there is doubt, believe;
Where there is despair, there is hope;
Where there is darkness, there is light;
And where there is sadness, there is joy.
O Divine Master,
Admit that I may not so much seek comfort as consolation;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardon that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
And so, dear readers, may the year 2026 bring us all good health, peace and joy. — LOVE, ABBY
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Dear Abby was written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or PO Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
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