Another year begins. Set your goals and stick to a realistic, incremental plan to accomplish them. One step at a time.

I remain thoroughly grateful the Pulse is still around, and that my life involves producing this publication for the readers and the sponsors.

Your loyal art director and Pulse co-founder Sarah and I began this thing way back in January of 2006. We didn’t know for certain what the future would hold, whether the publication would fizzle out after a year or two, or if it would grow to become a real part of the fabric of Murfreesboro and meaningful to many people’s lives and businesses. But we thought it had a good chance to succeed, that a demand existed for it, and we gave it a shot.

It is not always easy. Occasionally, the time required to make it happen, the wide variety of tasks that need to be accomplished, the always-looming deadline, the financial balancing, the unexpected, all combine to make it quite challenging and frustrating. But it’s still Pulsing right along, thanks to all who support it. Simply observing people around town reading it, or hearing an encouraging word here or there, can result in powerful motivation.

I have often compared the growth of the Pulse to walking up a trail on a mountainside. It didn’t all happen immediately, but step by step, look how far we’ve come now!

I didn’t jump to the top all at once (honestly, there’s still a long way to go before we reach the top), but we’ve certainly gone a long way up the trail.

Some may come from great wealth and have a helicopter that zips them straight up to the pinnacle, flying over those trudging along below.

Hey, be thankful and joyful for the blessing of two legs! The situation could always be more challenging.

Pause for a moment after some hard work. Maybe you get to see the expanse of the Smokies down below. Enjoy the view; then, keep on moving forward.

Enjoy the challenge; solve the puzzle. Even in difficult parts, it may seem hard to enjoy, but know that when you are navigating some of the challenges, when it may not be a lot of fun, when it’s steep and your legs ache but you keep on going, you are getting yourself to a better place.

One step at a time. Staying on the trail. Climb your rock, as The Ascent says.

Take in a collection of lovely bird paintings from Camille Engel this month at the City Hall rotunda. That’s a big part of what we enjoy having in the Pulse—a celebration of local color and creativity.

Bracken Jr. and I enjoyed the Tennessee Valley Winds’ holiday performance at Patterson Park last month. A little “Sleigh Ride” and “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Mr. Grinch” and a Christmas-carol singalong got us in the holiday spirit.

Thanks to the musicians in that volunteer wind band for doing something neat for the community.

It seems that many appreciated the piece on the local group Operation Saving Life in last month’s edition. Many others did not react so favorably, though I get the feeling that a lot of them did not make an effort to really read the story or consider what it was truly about. It was a profile on a group dedicated to encouraging mothers and protecting lives, which, aside from any reason regarding religion or the sacred nature of life, is a patriotic thing to do. Early Americans pledged to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and how could one have liberty or happiness without life?