It’s that time of year again when people make new goals or resolutions for the coming year. In this instance, people are looking for 2022 to be a better year than 2021 when a new strain of COVID-19 hit and kept many people working at home or sent them toward the unemployment line.
Jessica Garvin, a state lawmaker and assisted living center administrator from Duncan, said she wants to be “more present” in 2022.
“I find myself often not being able to connect,” she said. “I find myself reading through emails instead of being with family and being intentional about it. I’m habitually trying to stay caught up on work, but I know it will be there tomorrow. I need to remember that personally and professionally.”
Daniel Pae, a state lawmaker from Lawton, said he’s stopped making New Year’s resolutions. Instead, he and a group of friends designate their own word of the year. For Pae, the 2021 word was perseverance.
“We had the pandemic and there was so much uncertainty. I was giving 100 percent of my efforts to whatever I was doing.”
So, what’s the word of the year for 2022? Pae said he hadn’t decided on that.
“I’ve still got a couple of days to reflect,” he said on Dec. 28.
However, Pae said he has considered three options, which are gratitude, simplicity and forward-thinking. Fellow state legislator John Michael Montgomery focused his resolution on state finances. “I want to be a good steward of state money and show fiscal responsibility,” he said.
“I want to support the free market, work for prosperity and have good economic opportunities.”
Montgomery also is hopeful all Oklahomans have quality healthcare during 2022.
Legislator Trey Caldwell wants to use a combination of federal and state funds to reopen the Frederick hospital and use that same process for helping other communities with similar projects in southwest Oklahoma.