In all the busyness of this time of year have you managed to set time aside to draft out a few New Year’s resolutions?
Maybe you’ll get some time over the next couple of days. I’m hoping to get something together before Thursday.
While many people don’t believe in such things I reckon that any time we can sit down and take stock of our lives and make plans for the time ahead is time well spent.
Of course there are all the usual resolutions that people make about losing weight, getting fitter, quitting smoking, reducing debt and all the rest but I wonder what 2009 would look like if we made resolutions and goals about improving relationships with those close to us and then asked those people, or others, for help in staying accountable to those goals.
I wonder how things would be if we made resolutions about helping those we may not even know but who need a hand up.
How would 2009 shape up if we determined that family was more important than the demands of work and then structured our schedules accordingly?
What would it be like if we decided that 2009 was the year that we would look beyond the physical and material things of this world to discover deeper spiritual meaning?
I wonder.
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I have found resolutions to be very helpful to me in the past couple years. I started to use my blog to record and assess throughout the year. That created a habit of gauging how I was doing on the priorities set out at the beginning of the year and readjust their emphasis as I progressed.
Results for me were to stay the course on regular exercise, realize that I wasn’t serious enough about dieting, and add back in activities that had been neglected ( like getting the garden back in shape).
It also proved to be a healthy reminder to work on areas of character that I tend to push to the background unless my buttons are pushed.
So…all round… resolutions work well for me, and I am now considering what to set out for 2009. I heartily endorse making New Year’s resolutions 🙂
I too have thought of resolutions, but how often I don’t follow through with them too. This past year has been full of lots of spiritual growth and closeness to God for me. I have read allot, listened allot, and learned allot about God and the brokeness that we humans are. I don’t know if I will make resolutions, but I do know that I want more of God to shine through me, and to figure that all out and llive out more of Jesus is going to be my goal of this year. I know it’s a tall order, and one that is actully a life long process, but I truely want to be more Christlike in all areas of my life; more loving, more forgiving, more accepting, more like Jesus all around. I know I can’t do it without His help, so I will need to contiinue to surrender and ask Him to guide. I think this is one resolution that I can stick to becasue its very much my hearts desire. I think if your heart is in something, you’ll be able to better accomplish it, you’ll want to succeed; And who wouldn’t want to succeed with Jesus leading!!!! Amen and Blessings to you in the New Year.
Hi Rodney, I really like this time of year to reassess. I have been setting New Year’s goals for about 20 years or so now. I don’t always cross them all off, but I at least try to get them written down to start with. Some get carried over to the next year. I find that it helps me to get focussed and get moving.
I think what Dave Q said is the key point: not that we accomplish it all, but that we make that focused effort. As Robin says, we certainly don’t do any of it without God’s help and guidance.
I think, tho, that putting it to a defined commitment such as a resolution creates a focus we wouldn’t have otherwise.
I am still working on my own list 🙂
Wow, I love this post and thank you!