Another year. They seem to be coming around faster and faster.
The popular thing to do this time of year is to make a set of resolutions that we plan to get done in the coming year. I don't know how well you do with that but my record is abysmal.
I think the only resolution I have ever kept was a number of years ago that I resolved to not make any more dang fool resolutions. Now that one I could keep and have done so for a lot of years now.
The problem with resolutions is that we keep them or we don't. Pass or fail. I don't do well with that kind of test.
But it doesn't mean I don't have plans for the New Year. However, instead of resolutions I have GOALS. Goals are different, we can work toward a goal. There can be progress even if the goal is not reached. Not just pass or fail but we can have degrees of accomplishment. We can even exceed the goal. We can do better than we planned. Hard to do that with a resolution.
Many of these goals are captured on my to-do list. Family goals, financial goals, faith goals, work and writing goals, honey-do projects and household repairs, all on one list. I constantly try to whittle that list down but it often seems like I take one thing off and put a dozen things back on in its place.
I'm convinced that life is that list, and while I know I have eternal life thanks to my Lord and Savior, that list has an immortality of its own here on earth. It can never be finished. Even when it comes time for me to make my heavenly trip, the list still survives. Only now it has to be added to someone else's list, along with the task of making my final arrangements.
Some things on the list survived last year too and will go into next year. Some have been on there for several years, but as long as they are on the list I fully intend they get done, and they will eventually be resolved one way or the other. A few of that type of goals has been resolved over the years by finally admitting I'm just not going to do them and taking them off the list. Yes, that does resolve them, just admitting we aren't going to do it. Not ideal, but it does work.
How about you? What's your record on resolutions? If you do them I hope your record is better than mine. Or if you are a goal person I hope you see a lot of them accomplished or even surpassed in 2014. I hope you have a great New Year!
2 comments:
Like you, Terry, I am a goal person, not a resolution person. I've found that setting goals and keeping them continually in front of me helps me to focus and to accomplish them. A key for me has been to set only those goals I think our Lord wants for me. Once, when I was struggling with too much on my plate, He said to me, "You always have enough time to do what I have called you to do." My job is to discover and to do only what He has called me to do.
Thank you for your inspiring post. :)
Most people make a list then give up. One resolution or goal at a time might work. I once heard a speaker talk about, sticky tab goals. Pick one put it on a sticky note and place it where you cannot miss it. Want to lose weight put it on the fridge. Want to get in shape, put it in your car, can you walk instead. By the time he was finished with all his examples I was exhausted and decided to let God do the planning and I would just keep stumbling along and it didn't take a single sticky note.
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