Right now, it’s the time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. That twilight zone of wondering what day it is, wearing PJs and eating leftovers. Taking time to chillax and rest is important in our busy lives, so enjoy every minute!
It’s also a time to reflect on the past year and look forward to a new one. It’s a little bit like giving yourself a “report card,” except you’re both the student and the teacher! Only you know how you truly did with what you wanted to accomplish this time last year.
- Maybe you can check, check, check off what was on your list. Awesome! Keep it up!
- Maybe you made some progress (yay!) but stayed the same or fell behind in other areas.
- Maybe all those boxes are still waiting to be checked. It wasn’t the year you wanted to have because there were issues beyond your control
- Maybe you were the one who blew it
Now before you think I have it all together, I can 100% assure you I don’t! There’s no halo hovering over my head and there never will be! But this is a thinkspace, so let’s take a minute and be real with ourselves. We ALL have things to work on. Here are a couple of examples:
Do you have health issues you can improve or weight loss to deal with?
Do you have an addiction that’s negatively affecting your life and relationships?
Are other things broken and need repair?
What issues do you want to change?
What is that “thing” that stops you? Remember, this is you talking to you now. Taking responsibility and admitting that you’re the one who’s made poor decisions? Making excuses to try and justify what you’re putting off? Being lazy? What is the truth?
I have a friend who didn’t have a great childhood. Her father never hurt her physically but when he had a few drinks, he said hurtful things to her when she was young that she never forgot. It affected how she saw herself as an adult, even though he made those speeches while drunk and transferred his problems to her as the victim. After listening to the replay of what had happened to her many times, one day I asked her a question. I said, “How long are you going to carry these lies that are hurting you? Are you going to get up and strap them on tomorrow morning again? Will you still be doing it this time next year? For five more years? Ten? For the rest of your life? How sad would that be when you can lay them down now and see the truth and be set free from them?”
You see, we all have the power to choose. Even when things happen in our lives that we didn’t ask for. Even if we’ve dug a deep hole ourselves and now we need to get out of it. Even when life isn’t fair we can decide to do what’s right – and what we can with God’s help. This year doesn’t have to be like last year. It can be better!
Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way. Some of them the hard way:
- Baby steps count.
- Do the work. Don’t give up.
- Things I don’t want to do still need to be done, whether I feel like it or not.
- Hard things have their own reward.
- When is the best time to start? Right now.
- Motivation is a decision.
You’ll never regret making the right choice. One at a time.
RESET HIGHER: This message isn’t just for January 1st. It’s for anytime you need to reset. When we’re honest with ourselves, we can get perspective about our mistakes and learn from them. Motivation to change is within your reach any time you decide to use it. It’s your life. How will you have made it better by this time next year?
