Isn’t that what we always say? “It’s a new year so it’s going to be a new me!” We always make new resolutions to improve on ourselves and make this year “the best one ever!” Let’s list the typical ones shall we.
I will…
- Eat healthier
- Go to the gym more
- Lose weight
- Organize my living space
- Be an all around better person
While all of these and other resolutions are just fine, how many of us really stick to them? I will be the first to admit that I have all of these high expectations of what I will do at the beginning of the year and then fail to keep up with them. I last a few weeks and then old habits creep back in and the excuses start. “Oh I’ll get to that tomorrow’” and when tomorrow comes there is something else in the way, more important or, let’s be honest, we just too tired that day to do anything after work.
Sometimes I feel as though people put too many unrealistic expectations on themselves with their resolutions wanting everything to change and be easy and done by February. Then, when it’s harder than they realized, they give up. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with putting expectations on ourselves, that’s how we make and reach goals and move forward in our lives. However, when our expectations are too high and almost unreachable we are just setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment.
That is not how we are supposed to live our lives. God will always put challenges in our paths and push us to cling onto Him more, but He will never put an expectation on our lives that we will never be able to reach. He wants to see us grow and improve on our lives according to His plan for us. I will admit, this is a hard lesson for me. I have been working on for a while with setting goals for myself that I can really achieve instead of just setting goal after goal that I will never reach.
So here is my challenge for everyone, and for myself. Instead of making a list of resolutions, start with one or two and when you reach one then set another. For me, I’m going to do a long term resolution for this year. I’m going to try to dig into the Word more and read every day, and I’ll admit I’ve slipped already, but it’s a new habit that I am working on.Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you" Declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
