Thoughts on New Years

Well, I sat on this for a while, but I think I'm ok with it...

So… new years. I don’t even know where to begin. I haven’t done resolutions for a long time. I used to say that my resolution was to not make resolutions anymore.
Why don’t I like them, you ask? Well:

#1. They tend to last from 72 hours to 1 week, then BAM, I slip up. Feel like crap for longer than it lasted. And stop trying to do/not do what-ever-it-was for the rest of the year.

#2. Do I actually have to wait till new years to change something? That seems a bit lame for my tastes.

The closest I come to this yearly practice, is:

Oct. think: what do I see that I wish was different? What would I like to add or subtract from my life? Why? Is it to prove something? To whom? [if it passes this test…]

Nov. begin a “how will I implement this” platform. What will it look like? [if subtracting] what will I replace this with? [freeing up time only matters if you use that time for something of redeeming value]

Is this a thing I can “just wake up & do?”? if not, what stage should I start with now? Will that stage take: a week? a month? a year? –you know map it out.

Then sometime between Dec. 1^st & Dec 20^th begin the journey [as though it were New Year’s already]. Why? Well, this gives me the chance to have a few “false starts” before the year begins “in earnest”. Also, …I find, the more difficult plan is, the more worthwhile it will be when I finally succeed.

After all, we don’t write movies/books/name buildings after/celebrate birthdays of people who did what was easy. We don’t remember people who played it safe. We stand up & cheer for those who stared up at the impossible… & did it anyway. Those of you who read the Bible, this book is littered with stories of the impossible. A kid beheads a giant, in front of his own nation’s army. Another kid, sold into slavery, keeps his family, & an entire region, from starving through a 7 year famine. A man from a nowhere town, who never did a single thing wrong in his life…dies for a world full of people who can’t ever seem to get it right [at least, not without his help, anyway]. The Bible is the most beautifully absurd love story –ever. Basically, if God owned a business, the slogan would be “where the impossible, is just another day at the office.”

May His grace drip from your fingers,
B