This time of year gives us a chance to reflect on the previous year, all the good and bad times, and think about how much we have grown and changed and accomplished. This is also the time when we think about where we want to be in the future and make resolutions that will get us there. Pause for a moment and ask yourself if what you are doing today will get you closer to where you want to be tomorrow. Do you want to be more kind, more forgiving, more healthy, more passionate, more patient, more confident, more present, more honest, more successful, living in a different place, have more meaningful connections?

Once we have clarity on our vision for tomorrow, to keep focus, it may help to think of these “resolutions” as “goals” and follow the 5 factors of making “SMART” goals:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-Based

While we laugh about how quickly many fall off course, it’s important to remember even if we lose sight for a day, week or month, it’s never too late. The important part is how we challenge ourselves to be better than we were yesterday. Whatever it is that you want to achieve, “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero,” (Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow).

Our Section Treasurer, Karl Rockwell, PE, ENV SP, proves it’s never too late by sharing with us his recent achievement of hiking into the Grand Canyon to the Kaibab Bridge. The bridge was dedicated by ASCE as a National Historic Engineering Landmark in February 2019. The original dedication hike was to be held in conjunction with the dedication ceremony, but was called off due to inclement weather. Karl along with ASCE member Yugantha Yasanayake, P.E., completed their hike on December 5, 2019. Karl remarks, “There is no substitute for visiting this historic monument in person to truly appreciate the design and construction ingenuity, as well as human toil and sacrifices that went into this world class civil engineering project.”