Our motivation this year: You

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We made it. We're past the holidays, to the new year and into the height of winter.

In this time of resolutions that are often driven by companies and social trends, I think it's important to be intentional about our priorities. It's too easy to get stuck in all the negative, especially with so many national and global storylines in which we can drown. This is a time of year when many people find it harder to balance mental and physical health with so much telling us we're not good enough, "but this product will fix everything." Life circumstances and factors out of our control prevent people from feeling motivated.

But if you can, do me a favor. Look around you. At your friends, family, co-workers, schools, churches, pets, support groups. Your community. There's so much to be thankful for right here at home. If you simply survived last year, that's enough to be able to make this one better.

Some people keep a gratitude journal. Others pray. Whatever floats your gratitude boat, do it.

This new year, here are a few things that stand out to me amid these cold winter nights.

- Family and friends. My support system.

- That they enjoy celebrating holidays, life's milestones and the mundane everyday over shared, good food.

- My health.

- That my job affords me the opportunity to meet new people and learn new things every day.

- You!

I'm serious. While there's no fix-it-all product out there, reading your local news can make your life better. It makes you more informed about what your community leaders are doing so you can choose to get involved, and it cuts through the negativity bias of social media, TV and "mainstream" national news to show you people who are doing amazing things right around the corner from your home and work.

I'm thankful I work in a community where people care about local news. You've shown that in a lot of ways in the eight years I've been at The Sumter Item. You've shown it by following us on social media. You've shown it by going to our website. You've shown it by watching videos like Sumter's Next Generation, The Grind and Sumter Today, participating in Best of Sumter, signing up for free emails and maybe even becoming a subscriber to The Sumter Item.

For most of 2024, tens of thousands of you read this still-young paper, The Item Impact, every month.

It will never be an easy road ahead, but you make it worth it.

What motivates you looking into this year? I'd love to know if you're willing to share. You can always reach me at kayla@theitem.com.

If you haven't heard, I think local news is really important for the quality of life in a community. So in whatever way you have, thank you for supporting our area's only source of local daily news. And stay tuned because we've got plenty more to come.

Kayla Green is executive editor of The Sumter Item.


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