For many people the new year means a new start, and with it another chance to change.
"All women [want] to lose weight is my first one [resolution]" said Sandra Orendain, a native of Mexico and San Antonio resident. "And the second one is to be healthy and to do more exercises."
Even though standard self-improvement new year's resolutions are at the top of a regular year list, this year seems to be a little different. This year the focus may have shifted, as some of the major issues of our time -- like healthcare, the economy, and the war in Afghanistan -- are weighing heavily on people's thoughts.
Immigration Reform
As she waited for her java on New Year’s Eve at an area coffee shop, Orendain said she hoped that leaders will improve policies dealing with immigrants.
"Because we need all people -- Mexican, Asian, any country -- to get work and a better life here in the United States," she said.
Compromise in Congress
For Michael Reily, his own resolution required a little consideration.
"Main resolution,” he began as he thought about it. “Probably to get out of credit card debt."
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But he was quicker to express his thoughts on lawmakers who are having a tough time getting along. Reily said he wishes they'd just do something to resolve all the bickering.
"Politically, I would hope for a little bit more cooperative dealings in major issues like the 'fiscal cliff,' and that the economy continues to get stronger," he said.
Reily also said that gun control is a major talking point, but says the problem is about more than getting guns off the street, though that would be a start.
"I don't think the original intent of the Amendment, the right to bear arms, was so that we could have guns on the streets that could take down an elephant,” he said.
Health Care
Tom Mauser is a registered nurse who said the nation's healthcare situation is cause for worry. He said that he is worried about patient wait times under President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.
"We might be spending X amount of time longer waiting for that appointment with our primary care physicians,” he said. “We might deal with a lot longer wait for a referral to a specialist."
However, Mauser said he is optimistic that eventually the system will work itself out.
Four more years
With coffee in hand, Raul Calderon said he hasn't quite decided his resolution, but the most important story in the past year for him was the Presidential election.
It's perhaps the umbrella that encompasses all the other major issues.
Obama seemed concerned with every American in Calderon's opinion, and when he heard Mitt Romney's video comments disregarding 47 percent of Americans as feeling entitled and unwilling to vote for his policies, he didn't think Romney was thinking about every citizen in the country.
"It came down to that for me," he said of his choice for Obama. "The inclusiveness of more people is always best for America."
