Opinion | This year, make a resolution about something bigger than yourself.

In “grass leaves”, writes Walt Whitman: “This is what you should do: love the earth, the sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone who asks for it, defend the stupid and crazy.” And he continues: “Reexamine everything you have been told in school, in church or in any book, discard everything that insults your own soul and your very flesh will be a great poem.”

Therefore, there. If you’re looking for a worthwhile resolution, Whitman isn’t a bad place to start.

The task of improving the world may seem impossible, but it is not. All that is needed is the proper sequence of correct discrete decisions. Decisions are just resolutions with teeth.

An editor of mine told me a story from his childhood on his grandparents’ farm in Iowa. The boy, looking at acres and acres of corn, asked his grandfather, “How are we going to shuck all that corn?” His grandfather said, “One row at a time.”

This is also the way to improve the world. And we can start little by little.

Personally, I promise to frequently visit a children’s hospital and try to distract children with stories, the funnier the better. I promise that I will call all the lonely people I know (and there are many) at least twice a week, just to chat and make them feel part of the world of the living. I promise to give alms to everyone who asks for it and to those who don’t, and to defend the stupid and crazy, the more stupid and crazy the better. I promise to keep an eye out for stray dogs (cats, dogs and people) and provide them with safety and comfort. I promise to see every mistake as a threat and every injury as an opportunity.

What will you do (right now, this week, this month) to create a better world? Organize a protest. Send a letter to correct a mistake or to offer friendship. (A thoughtful and understanding letter to a friend who is grieving or distressed is a powerful thing.) Lend a hand. Offer a word of comfort, inspiration, support or love. Donate money or, most valuable of all, time. There are so many ways to move this world, at your fingertips.