New Years is a popular time to make resolutions, but the real struggle is to make them stick. I think we’ve all heard the joke about opening a gym on January 1 that transitions to a bar on January 15. Research has even shown that most resolutions are abandoned in two to three weeks. Why is this? If we want to change so badly, they why don’t these resolutions stick? Why do we keep going around the same mountains, over and over again, just to start into another new year saying “better luck this time?”
I think it’s because we don’t dig deep enough to understand why we want to make the changes. Reasons matter, and if they aren’t deep, personal reasons for permanent change, then they aren’t going to stick. Case in point: your resolution to go to the gym every day isn’t going to last if you’re just doing it to hang out with your friends, or to look good in graduation or wedding pictures this spring. It will only stick if you want improve your health and feel better. The same goes for everything else. Resolving under peer pressure or to solve a temporary problem will only get you so far. It takes more to make it a daily habit.
This is especially true if your goals are more abstract. My resolution for this year was to find myself again after two tough years of loss and challenge. A lot has changed in my life and I’ve adjusted to the big “paradigm shifts,” but now I’m finding that some pieces of my old life still fit, and I’m trying to figure out how to integrate them into the bigger picture of who I am in this new season of life.
That’s big. It didn’t take me long to realize that I need more concrete, personal goals to help me find that path. The first thing I did was consider what I enjoyed before, and made a list of things I’d like to bring back into my life in 2022: for example, I obviously want to write more, I need more variety in my workouts, and I need to decide if I want to continue with my crafting (which is mainly cross stitching). Making this list helped me to realize that the two things I really want to accomplish in this goal to “find myself” is to have better balance in my life, and resolve bitterness over past circumstances that’s threatening to take root in my life. That discovery surprised me, because I thought my impatience and frustration were related to grief, stress, and burnout. Thank goodness the Lord helped me to see it for what it was while I had some time off work, because bitterness is a slow spreading poison that will ruin your life if you aren’t attentive. I’m glad and ready to address this now that my faith and trust are strengthened again. I think that, with prayer and engaging in things I enjoy in life on a daily basis again, I can work out that balance and uproot the bitterness to find the joy and contentment that I desire in life again.
That’s what I mean about finding deeper reasons for your resolutions. They need to come from pure motives to improve yourself permanently. You can do it, but you need to know why you’re doing it. So before you take one more step forward on those resolutions, consider why you made them in the first place. Dig deep and meditate on whether they have a place in your life permanently. Then pray to move forward successfully, because resistance will come, but it’s not futile. Rather, it’s to help you see the truth and strengthen your resolve to gain goals that are perhaps greater than you can imagine.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Happy New Year!
I think it’s because we don’t dig deep enough to understand why we want to make the changes. Reasons matter, and if they aren’t deep, personal reasons for permanent change, then they aren’t going to stick. Case in point: your resolution to go to the gym every day isn’t going to last if you’re just doing it to hang out with your friends, or to look good in graduation or wedding pictures this spring. It will only stick if you want improve your health and feel better. The same goes for everything else. Resolving under peer pressure or to solve a temporary problem will only get you so far. It takes more to make it a daily habit.
This is especially true if your goals are more abstract. My resolution for this year was to find myself again after two tough years of loss and challenge. A lot has changed in my life and I’ve adjusted to the big “paradigm shifts,” but now I’m finding that some pieces of my old life still fit, and I’m trying to figure out how to integrate them into the bigger picture of who I am in this new season of life.
That’s big. It didn’t take me long to realize that I need more concrete, personal goals to help me find that path. The first thing I did was consider what I enjoyed before, and made a list of things I’d like to bring back into my life in 2022: for example, I obviously want to write more, I need more variety in my workouts, and I need to decide if I want to continue with my crafting (which is mainly cross stitching). Making this list helped me to realize that the two things I really want to accomplish in this goal to “find myself” is to have better balance in my life, and resolve bitterness over past circumstances that’s threatening to take root in my life. That discovery surprised me, because I thought my impatience and frustration were related to grief, stress, and burnout. Thank goodness the Lord helped me to see it for what it was while I had some time off work, because bitterness is a slow spreading poison that will ruin your life if you aren’t attentive. I’m glad and ready to address this now that my faith and trust are strengthened again. I think that, with prayer and engaging in things I enjoy in life on a daily basis again, I can work out that balance and uproot the bitterness to find the joy and contentment that I desire in life again.
That’s what I mean about finding deeper reasons for your resolutions. They need to come from pure motives to improve yourself permanently. You can do it, but you need to know why you’re doing it. So before you take one more step forward on those resolutions, consider why you made them in the first place. Dig deep and meditate on whether they have a place in your life permanently. Then pray to move forward successfully, because resistance will come, but it’s not futile. Rather, it’s to help you see the truth and strengthen your resolve to gain goals that are perhaps greater than you can imagine.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Happy New Year!
RSS Feed