Photo courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net/hin255
Goodbye, 2013.
Hello, 2014.
For some people, today is a day of making new year resolutions. A time of promising to do better…to lose weight…to eat healthier…to read God’s word every day…to forgive that person you’ve struggled to forgive.
For years, I have made these types of resolutions, only to find myself in exactly the same place one year later. Still not healthier. Still not in the Word daily. And still the exact same person I was one year prior.
It’s not the resolutions that are the problem, of course, but the person who fails to keep them.
This year, as I’ve been thinking about 2014 and the person I hope to be throughout the year, I’m doing a few things I hope will help me keep my resolutions.
How to Start the New Year Right:
1. Leave the past in the past.
As much as I’d like to believe that by turning a page on a new calendar year we can forget about the past, I know that’s not how it works. We don’t forget the pain of our past just by starting a new year.
A few weeks ago, I read a new book by Pete Wilson called Let Hope In. He said something in that book that has stuck with me: “Your past is not your past if it’s still impacting your present” (6).
I don’t know what’s hurting you today…what’s keeping you stuck in the past. But I do know this: whatever it is that’s plaguing you doesn’t have to continue to do so. Give it to Jesus and leave it there. Let him carry the load.
2. Practice gratitude.
Some of you reading this might have lost a child last year. Or a parent. Or a spouse. Some of you might have lost a job or a best friend. You might have received a diagnosis that leaves you wondering how you will ever survive (be it physically, financially, or emotionally).
If 2013 was a year of trials, start 2014 by choosing to focus on the blessings in your life. I know what it’s like to struggle to find something to be thankful for. I also know it’s worth it to try. The feelings of thankfulness follow the expression of it, so start telling God what you’re thankful for. And he will begin to grow gratitude into your heart.
3. Prioritize.
You won’t have time to do everything you want in 2014. (Just like you didn’t have time to do everything in 2013). Choose today to neglect the good so you can obtain the best.
As you look at your daily calendar, make note of the things that matter most to you. Then do these things. Don’t allow the urgent to crowd the important.
4. Make time for what matters.
Work is important. So is cooking, cleaning, and that pile of laundry that haunts you from the hallway. But there are some things that are even more important than these.
Your family. Your God. Your friends.
Social media can wait. Housekeeping can wait. Work can wait.
But those people-both seen and unseen-they shouldn’t have to.
So tell me, what is your resolution this year?
By, Lindsey Bell
Lindsey is the author of Searching for Sanity:52 Insights from the Parents of the Bible (coming Jan 31st). She’s also a stay-at-home mother of two, minister’s wife, chocolate-lover, adoption advocate, miscarriage survivor, and avid reader. You can connect with Lindsey online through….
Lindsey Bell is the author of Unbeaten and of Searching for Sanity. She’s also a stay-at-home mother of two, minister’s wife, avid reader, and chocolate lover. You can find Lindsey online at her website: www.lindseymbell.com.
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