2022 New Years Resolution from Tiffany Parks

As I reflect on my New Year’s goals for 2022, I am frustrated that we are still living through what many people are dubbing the Pandemic Years.

As an admirer of history, I love ruminating on how I can use the past to help me achieve my goals.

In the new year, I want to have less fear and more faith as to where life will take me. I want to stop worrying about not having all of the details, the road maps, or where all of the curves and pitfalls will be.

I am reminded of Ruth in the Old Testament. She went to a new region, and she didn’t worry about what the weather would be like or if she’d make friends. She just had faith, and her faith changed the trajectory of her social and financial life. She even found a new man, Boaz. I can only hope!

Furthermore, over 100 years ago, when the influenza pandemic was raging all over the world, many Americans were trying to make the best out of a stressful situation by incubating new thoughts, new ideas and creativity. So instead of incubating fear, I want to take advantage of opportunities that will fuel more productive and creative thoughts and ideas.

When the great pandemic finally ended in the early 1920s, life in America changed overall for the better. People’s new ideas and fearless thoughts led to the Roaring Twenties, a more progressive era in a myriad of ways. In Atlanta’s Jewish communities, businesses were booming and the Southern Israelite, the precursor to the AJT, was founded. And we are still writing about the vibrancy and resiliency of the Jewish community, despite the pandemic.

So overall, by accomplishing my goals in the new year, not only will I build a more bountiful life, but I will also be able to serve the AJT community in a more creative, bolder way.

B’Shalom.

Tiffany Parks is a professor in the English department at Gwinnett Technical College and a contributor to the Atlanta Jewish Times.