CEO’s Message – January 2026

Be Present, Pay Attention, Act with Intent

As you can see on pages four and five of this issue, Columbia Rural Electric Association (CREA) has just recently completed our Legacy Grant Project by awarding three local organizations with, hopefully, enough money to turn their wonderfully ambitious ideas into a truly transformative reality for the communities they, and we, serve.

Transformative. Webster’s dictionary defines transformative as “causing or able to cause an important and lasting change in someone or something.” With the Holiday season behind us, it’s easy to turn the page and move on, to fall back into old routines, to stuff the holiday spirit back in the bin and resume the grind.

My resolution for 2026 is to see if I can capture some of that transformative energy that we feel during the Holidays and maintain it throughout the year; the spirit of giving, the warmth of togetherness, the smile for a stranger that comes a little easier in December than in January.

Last month, I had the good fortune to hear a man named John O’Leary speak at a conference. After surviving a tragic accident as a 9-year-old boy that left him with a one percent chance of survival, John O’Leary has dedicated his life to inspiring others with his story of courage, survival, and transformation.

He speaks of the danger of “accidental living,” and the threat posed by an inactive, unintentional mindset. He has written two best-selling books, and a movie about his life, Soul on Fire, is available now on streaming services.

His message may sound a bit “new agey” to some, but it’s very simple: be mindful, be intentional with your thoughts. We need to ask ourselves why we do what we do, why we think what we think. As another writer-philosopher-public speaker, Alan Watts, once said, “This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now.” There is nothing new about these ideas. Mindfulness as a formal thought practice has been around longer than the Bible and has been expressed in different ways through the ages. Perhaps you remember someone telling you as a kid that you should “stop and smell the roses” once in a while. That’s mindfulness.

For me, mindfulness means being grateful for what I have and not wasting my thoughts on what I don’t have. An important part of that is being cognizant of what others have and do not have. The fear of uncertainty and the potential for upheaval is being felt by nearly everyone these days. Now, more than ever, it’s important to remember our blessings.

In some places around the world, there is peace on earth and goodwill toward men and women; in other places, there is not. We could all do well to be more mindful of how much peace, goodwill, good fortune, and love of family and friends we enjoy in our own lives, and do what we can to see more, find more, and create more of all those things for others.

…and not just talk about it at Christmas.

Best,
Scott Peters, CEO