I recently started a new journal. It’s something I love to do. Truly, it doesn’t take much to make me happy! I love picking out the blank book I’ll be using for the next year or so. Choosing the design, the size, deciding between lined or unlined. Feeling the crisp blank paper makes me excited about the future. What joys or sorrows will fill its pages? What circumstances will be captured for posterity?
I love a new year for much the same reason. It’s a fresh start, at least mentally. It whispers hopes and dreams for the future, new goals to pursue, projects to plan. I think of it as a “reset” button for my life.
I get it that some people aren’t excited at the prospect of “New Year’s Resolutions.” But for me, in a world that is constantly on the go, a new year is a signal for me to stop and take stock of my choices, priorities, and my time. To consider what is working and what isn’t. A time to pause and discover what changes might need to take place.
And so I’ve pared down the list making over the years. I no longer resolve to “exercise every day of the week” or “memorize a whole book of the Bible.” That’s a recipe for failure. Now I tend to ask myself two simple questions that help guide my thinking.
Read the rest over at For the Family.
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