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�ճ�����’s&�Բ�����; making its way around the internet this month that typically combines some photo of a disappointed person with the phrase, “Not a single person has said 2024 is gonna be their year. You guys finally learned your lesson, I see.”

The meme takes its origin from the long-running social media tradition of people posting positive declarations or affirmations at the end of the year that things will be on the up and up in the next. After the coronavirus pandemic, the bad economy, and many other unexpected tragedies outside of people’s control, many individuals have become cynical about their future, and this meme underscores the fact that people just see 2024 as yet another year to be endured and survived.

I completely sympathize with everyone who feels this way, and I will admit, it can be easy to fall into a slump where chronic disappointment, frequent tragedies, and yes, being surrounded by unreasonable people can take a toll on one’s hopes and aspirations. But, this is still Christmastime after all, and if there was ever a time to summon faith, hope and love for a better tomorrow, it’s right now. 

I for one believe that we can make Honolulu a better place for everyone in 2024. I say “Honolulu” specifically because that is where most of us live, that is an attainable goal, and we already have the benefit of traditions that put a premium on compassion. 

In case you’re wondering why I keep writing and speaking this way, it’s because our outcomes always depend on our outlook. We get exactly what we expect, so if we expect better, and pursue better, we will have better. Here’s how.

Never Send Someone Away Empty-Handed

The first and most important rule for getting to a better city is to have a personal rule of never sending someone away empty-handed. This goes for both public/elected servants and private individuals. Why is this important? To begin, cooperation is the only way you’ll ever get things done in this world. Notice I said “cooperation” and not coercion, because cooperation comes willingly when people expect to get something for something. If you add value, you get value.

At the individual level, a scarcity mindset can manifest in always trying to take advantage of people or always trying to get something for free, even at the expense of others. At the government level, scarcity can mean being too conservative where we do only the minimum required of us, or at the more extreme end of the spectrum, hoarding resources for the sake of being able to have the final say on who gets what and why.

The fastest thing that you can do to transform your community is to have a mindset of never sending someone away empty-handed. By this I mean to say everyone who encounters you at any given point in time should walk away with some kind of value added to them that they couldn’t find somewhere else. Whenever you show up someplace, have a mindset that while there, you will do something to add value to other people or leave things in a better state than when you arrived. 

For the government, this means finding a way to answer requests from the public in ways other than just “no.” Start by doing the things you can do, rather than stopping at the things you can’t. 

When I was working for the Republicans in 2009, I once got assigned a project in which my team had to review and put markups on policy proposals. I noticed everyone around me gleefully delighted in pulling out red pens and having the chance to project their opinions on someone else’s hard work, but instead the first thing I did was reach for a blue pen and flag all the good ideas that could be implemented right away.

What’s the difference? One approach prioritizes a grinding halt, another approach is targeted at doing what we can, rather than what we can’t.

Take Pride In All You Do

The  “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats , “Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” Philosophy could be characterized as an attempt to define what truth and beauty are, because as stated earlier, whatever people find value in, that is what people seek. 

We should all make it a point to take pride in what we do, so that everything we touch has both the mark of sincerity and the aesthetics of being what we think things should ideally look like. As this pertains to a city, people respond to the truth and beauty around them or lack thereof. 

“What do you mean by that, Danny?” Ask yourself this question,  and you had trash in your pockets that you needed to dispose of, where would you put it? On the chapel floor, for someone else to clean up, or in a trash can, where the trash belongs? Of course you’d put it in the trash can, because you’d be on your best behavior and everyone would notice your trash doesn’t belong there. 

By contrast, if you were standing in the middle of a waste landfill, where would you put the trash? On the ground along with all the trash, or in the trash can by the main office shack? I bet you’d put the trash on the ground, because of all the trash that’s already there.

And is it then any wonder that as a city declines, falls into disrepair, and becomes littered, it becomes even more littered over time? Similarly, when people engage in corrupt deeds or criminal activities, more people begin to follow that example. This is because if people don’t take pride in themselves or their city, they won’t respect themselves or their city.

But when we make it a point to emphasize truth and beauty, the power of conscience begins to awaken as people become aware of their surroundings and what role they play in that environment. When we take pride in what we do, others will take pride in what they do. A mental health aspect also is inherent in this, because being around people’s best will make us feel our best.

Always Be Kind

Last and most importantly, and this should be no surprise in the Aloha State, make it a point to empower the people around you with kindness. This world has more than enough so-called “strong” people and “smart” people but what it lacks the most are kind people. Kindness will be the key to reconciling Honolulu’s grievances and inspiring people to have hope for a better tomorrow.

It is also important to show kindness because many people around us act the way they act and believe the things they believe not because of “ideology” but because in their lives, no one has ever shown them kindness. 

I’ve noticed in politics there are a number of people who join this profession not because they have something constructive to give, but because they have something they wish to prove to compensate for a lack of kindness that they should have received in life from someone.

Many years ago, a certain conservative activist used to always pick fights with me, demanding to know why I wouldn’t denounce this, or wouldn’t support that, and for a time I simply ignored him until he became so hostile that I finally asked him bluntly, “Is this argument really about politics … or this is about you, because you seem to have anger management problems.”

Turns out, the individual had been fighting with their spouse, and they were  in the public sphere. Lesson to be learned? A lack of kindness can cause us to do things that are unproductive, and put people in attention-seeking or approval-seeking mindsets that undermine our community.

As we leave 2023 behind, my encouragement to you is simple: Always be the most generous, the most devoted, and the most kind person you can be to others. What would happen if we all treated each other, and our city that way? Well, for one thing, we’d have a lot of good things to look forward to in 2024.