Our new year only reflects the Gregorian calendar’s January to December count. There are many others — Julian, Islamic, Hebrew, and another 10 to my counting — most of us don’t know. Whichever calendar we use, we make New Year’s resolutions and strive to fulfill them. But as the new year’s days progress I have observed crowds at my gym thin rather quickly. 

 As each new year approaches our new resolutions resemble replicas of those we made the previous year. We seem to tell ourselves we will fail, but we must go through our perennial drill.

Resolving to do something should not just be some throwaway words mouthed as we wolf down last year’s cake. It should have an additional mental component and some muscle behind it. 

Personally I don’t make year-end resolutions. It seems to me waiting for another 12 months before you make another determination of what you are not adhering to is as irrational as living life in annual quanta or quotas. The unit of my life is defined by the moment, “now.” If we can’t predict what might happen in an hour, waiting a whole year to make another resolution, or decision, makes little sense. I say this knowing that we each look at our existence on earth differently. 

I believe we should look at each day as worthy of both maintaining or improving on our previous day’s resolution. Hence, for someone who runs 10 minute miles, every minute is a chance to walk or run faster, if the idea is to improve our previous levels of performance. What I mean then is, each moment of your life gives you a chance of perfection.

My own resolutions change throughout my day. I am constant in much that I do, but that constancy is changed by doing something better or more than its previous iteration. Sadly, I fight with my reading: I want to cover so much — fiction, science, philosophy. But because I’m only allotted 60 minutes to an hour, 24 hours to my day, I do my best. I read, I write. I live. 

Perhaps the one resolution I would want all of us to engage in — as a community of thinking and doing beings — is caring for our neighbors. I repeat, we owe each other respect and care, a million times. My wish — which could be rolled out into a resolution –  arises from my sincere belief that as a people and as a nation we have so much more than we know what to do with. America is the richest nation on earth. We can take care of each other better than we’ve done so far.

I say this to point out that our thinking arises from a belief of scarcity, that we do not have enough and so much is stolen from us. One hears it in the “America First” exhortations; the need to claw back what has been stolen from the U.S. 

I hold onto many Christian principles that most of humanity cherishes, in particular the belief that we should love our neighbor, be good Samaritans and help strangers, people we have never met before. But more importantly, practice the healing theology characterized by Tikkun Olam that in Judaism expresses humanity’s obligation to “repair the world” and its occupants. 

Simply put, if I could I would establish a way in which every American would have a bit more than the minimum, to live a decent life. I would ask my countrymen to decide on a ceiling of wealth that any individual could keep. How some hoard billions and billions, while many cannot afford a decent meal a day is abhorrent and illogical. And un-Christian.

Our resolution would be: we do not tolerate hunger in the midst of plenty. I see objections from those who believe that we can do what we want with our money, but believe society should establish when enough is enough. A point of wealth’s toxicity has been reached; some grasp at profits almost as if they would possess the planet. That’s wrong.

I know many agree with me on a judicious wealth distribution. In fact many millionaires and billionaires have expressed these ideas. What they still have to do is find ways to counteract the rabid grasping habits of men like Elon Musk and his Silicon Valley brethren, who, left alone, will own this earth, our moon and Mars. We must not let them do that.

Pius Kamau, M.D., a retired general surgeon, is president of the Aurora-based Africa America Higher Education Partnerships; co-founder of the Africa Enterprise Group and an activist for minority students ‘STEM education. He is a National Public Radio commentator, a Huffington Post blogger, a past columnist for Denver dailies and is featured on the podcast, “Never Again.”