As the new year begins, take a minute to reflect on the essential services that you provide alongside your fellow park and recreation professionals. Start 2022 with a clear outlook: recognize your role in confronting some of the most pressing issues of our time — ensuring equitable access to our community spaces and programs, helping conserve our green and open spaces, and providing opportunities for people to stay active and maintain healthy lifestyles. However, we cannot solve these challenges without first practicing self-care. Creating positive change in service of equity, climate-readiness, and overall health and well-being begins with ourselves and our well-being.

The new year is a time for resolutions, but yours do not need to be challenging. Here are some easy resolutions you can make for 2022:

1. Spend some quality time at your local park: Show your appreciation to your town by visiting a local park for your morning run, dog walk, or a stroll with friends and family.

2. Learn something new: Start a hobby (listen to NRPA’s Open Space Radio podcast), take a class (visit NRPA’s Online Learning portal), commit to earning a new certification in the field of parks and recreation, or experience a new cuisine (try out an activity or new recipe from NRPA’s Commit to Health Foods of the Month website)

3. Volunteer: There’s no better way to express your gratitude for our park and recreation professionals and advocates than by signing up for service opportunities in your town or city.

4. Create an estate plan: Making an estate plan is an easy way to build financial wellness and to secure the future for yourself, the people, and the parks you love.

Want to know a little more about creating an estate plan? NRPA has partnered with FreeWill: a free online resource more than 400,000 people have used to make their wills and other estate planning documents. No matter how old you are or how much wealth you possess, every single person can benefit from having a will. Make yours now.

Creating your will enables you to protect your future and the future of parks, and it only takes 20 minutes. When you’re making your will, you can designate a planned gift to NRPA and build strong, resilient and healthy communities.

All of these resolutions are simple actions you can take to enhance your quality of life and help protect the power of parks and recreation as a member of NRPA’s community.

Have you already created a planned gift in your will to NRPA? Please fill out this form to let us know. We want to say thank you.