Wise and Radical Hope: Moving Beyond Resolutions into Action

By Karla Johnston | Mindfulness Educator & Facilitator

As we crossed the threshold into 2026, a group of us gathered in the meditation "roost" at Crow’s Nest Ranch. On January 2nd, high above the snow-dusted trees of Truckee, we spent a full day immersed in a Mindfulness Retreat.

Amidst the silence and total relaxation, we sat with a heavy, vital question: What does it mean to have legitimate hope for the New Year? We aren't talking about "Pollyanna" hope—the kind of flimsy, magical thinking that suggests everything will just "work out" on its own. We were looking for a hope that is wise, radical, and capable of getting the job done.

Why Resolutions Fail (and Radical Action Wins)

Let’s be honest: New Year’s resolutions usually fall short. In fact, research shows that 80% of them are abandoned by the end of the month. At Radical Recovery, we know why: resolutions are often just wishes without a map.

Wise and Radical Hope is different. It understands that life doesn't improve by chance; it improves through beneficial action. In our community, hope isn't a feeling you wait for—it is an attitude you adopt and a way of being with each other through our greatest challenges.

The Three Pillars of Wise Hope

To move from "wishing" to "doing," we practice these three radical pillars:

1. I am a source of beneficial action. (I have the agency to change my environment.)

2. Every moment is an opportunity for beneficial action. (The path is always right in front of me.)

3. By choosing a beneficial action now, the next moment will likely be beneficial. (Action creates its own momentum.)

The Grit Behind the Calm

We don’t just meditate on the "light." We dive into the real stuff. During our retreat, the conversation turned toward the heavy truths: the experience of life on the streets, the weight of family ultimatums, and health conditions that simply cannot withstand continued substance use.

There was a great deal at risk. But because we were in community—the cornucopia of change—we weren't facing those fears alone. This is the heart of the Radical Recovery mission: reducing isolation through shared lived experience.

Finding the "Beneficial" in the Everyday

Radical Hope doesn't always look like a massive life overhaul. Usually, it looks like simple, consistent, beneficial action:

• An ear that truly listens.

• Sharing empathy and lived insight.

• Offering food to a hungry friend who forgot their lunch.

• Using humor to break the tension.

• Wrestling with a sticky lock on a door until it finally gives.

When we make it our business to be a source of beneficial action for ourselves and others, the "tune" of recovery begins to play.

Join the Path in 2026

As Emily Dickinson famously wrote:

“Hope is the thing with feathers —

That perches in the soul —

And sings the tune without the words —

And never stops — at all —“

At Crow’s Nest Ranch and Radical Recovery, we are committed to singing that tune together. We invite you to join us for our 2026 Mindfulness Retreats, where we practice the kind of hope that never stops.

The Path Is Yours.