Director's Veteran Message January 2, 2026
Jumpstart Your January with Whole Health The holidays can leave us feeling stressed, tired, or disconnected. You don’t have to carry that into the new year. Whole Health is here to help you recharge—body, mind, and spirit.
Quick Solutions You Can Try:
- A 10-minute guided mediation to reduce stress and improve focus. Click here for an example
- A gentle yoga routine that requires no equipment. Click here to watch an example of Chair Yoga
- A goal coaching video to identify what matters most to you in 2026. Click here to see how you can get started.
Whole Health isn’t about fixing one part of you—it’s about supporting your entire well-being. Small steps make a big difference.
For personalized assistance and more information, please contact us at 1-
Make the Connection: A VA Resource for Veterans
"Make the Connection" is a powerful VA initiative dedicated to helping Veterans, their families, and friends find resources and support for overcoming life's challenges.
Through personal stories and expert information, it connects individuals to mental health resources, wellness tools, and community support.
Explore inspiring testimonials at https://maketheconnection.net/.
Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles
During a school break in college, I rode with a few friends to brave a 12+ hour winter drive from Michigan to our respective homes in New York City. After what was probably a couple of hours on the road, I checked my phone to see our progress, only to discover that we weren’t any closer.
A closer look showed why—we were heading in the opposite direction.
The start of a new year often creates a similar moment of awareness. It gives us a pause—a chance to consider not just where we’ve been, but where our current direction is taking us.
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, uses a helpful illustration to explain how direction works. He notes that if a plane leaving Los Angeles for New York adjusts its heading by just 3.5 degrees before takeoff, it won’t arrive in New York at all. Instead, it will land in Washington, D.C.—hundreds of miles away. The change in heading is almost unnoticeable at the start, but over the course of the journey, the outcome is completely different.
That’s how direction works in our lives. It’s not always a lack of effort that leads one off course, sometimes it’s simply moving consistently in the wrong direction. Over time, even small misalignments become decisive.
The new year gives us a natural moment to pause and ask an honest question: If nothing changes, where will my current direction take me?
One Team, One Ohana!
Thomas A. Steinbrunner FACHE
Interim Executive Director
VA Pacific Islands Health Care System