Optimism on Purpose: A New Year’s Resolution

A tone-setter for 2026

As the year draws to a close and we get ready to welcome 2026, there’s a familiar mix of hope and hesitation in the air. We all feel it—the tension between what we want to believe and what reality sometimes brings. But if living in a small town has taught me anything, it’s this: optimism isn’t naïve. It’s intentional. It’s a discipline that lifts communities up and helps create forward motion.

In 2026, that choice matters more than ever.

During my time as mayor, I noticed a clear pattern: Gull Lake moved forward whenever people united behind a shared vision and a hopeful outlook. Pessimism is always the easier sell, especially when change is involved. It can take root quickly. Optimism, by contrast, takes effort and can feel fragile at first. But once it takes hold, it becomes a powerful force for progress.

We don’t have to look far for proof. The recent $20,000 Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation grant for the Old Pharmacy restoration—raising the community-driven investment to $55,000—shows what collective optimism can accomplish. Residents bought 35 shares before the grant even arrived. People believed in the project first, and that belief created the momentum that attracted provincial support. That’s optimism in action: a community investing in its future and seeing that investment recognized.

There’s still work to do—more fundraising, more decisions, and more hands needed. But for the first time in a long while, we’re witnessing something significant: a shared optimism. People are talking about what that building could become, not just what it was. They’re imagining possibilities, not limitations. That shift is crucial. It’s where real progress begins.

So here’s the resolution for 2026:

• Look for the good.

• Say it out loud.

• Help keep the momentum going.

Because positive momentum is contagious. When someone points out the good, others start to notice it too. When one person chooses hope, it gives others permission to do the same. And when an entire community embraces optimism—even cautiously, even imperfectly—things begin to move.

Let’s choose optimism in 2026—not because it’s easy, but because it’s powerful. It strengthens us, brings out our best, and grows the more we share it.

Here’s to a new year of seeing the good—and saying it.

Blake Campbell

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