Acting with intention
Reflection for the New Year 2026
I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to every physician and APC for the many gifts and talents that you bring each day in your Mission-centered service.
As the new year unfolds, we may feel a sense of apprehension, wondering what the new year will bring. And things may have felt heavier this turn around the sun. The 24/7 news cycle seems to add on a weighted blanket, sometimes so heavy it gets hard to breathe. When this happens, it’s important to shift our perspective, and act with intention.
When we act with intention, we take back control of how “heavy” the weighted blanket feels. You control what and how much you consume. Consuming anything offered 24/7 rarely ends well. Think of “all you can eat” buffets or an “open bar” - though they may sound appealing to some, they often lead to overindulgence. Same with consuming the news. Just because it’s offered 24/7 doesn’t mean you need to take it all in.
It is a good reminder that we have agency over what we allow into our home, and therefore into our lives. A wise colleague shared this very idea with me when asked how he responds when his patients are anxious about the future. We can make our home our sanctuary. We are in control of what we allow into our home. We can also limit our sources of information; we can choose two or three reliable sources and only check them at a designated time. There is a reason they call mindless scrolling “doom-scrolling.” But we don’t have to acquiesce.
In fact it’s a perfect time to commit to strengthening our resolve, as it’s customary during this time to make new year’s resolutions. Instead of relying on willpower or adding anything to your “should-do” list, another approach is to take stock in what you already do - where you spend your time and energy - and consider what needs more attention, or what doesn’t need your attention any longer. And to be more aware of how your choices impact you, and in turn, how your choices impact how you show up for others.
Perhaps this is the year you strive for balance in the form of being more selective about how much and and how often you ______ (fill in the blank) - think a la carte instead of buying the buffet. This analogy applies to many things in life, both personally and professionally.
When we act with intention, we become aware of how our choices shape how we show up in the world - as physicians and ACPs, and how we show up for the world - as citizens. As our Mission states, we are called to be expressions of God’s healing love in the world, let’s first be sure to take steps to heal our own homes, our own heart, so we can go out and be beacons of hope and love to others.
Amy Szyszko, MD, MPH
Chief Mission Integration Officer
Providence Clinical Network - North Division
