First things first... Merry 12th Day of Christmas! Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 6, is the
observance of Epiphany. So today is
officially the last day of the Church's liturgical celebration of the festival
of Christmas.
Second things... Happy New Year! Did you make any resolutions for 2015? If so, how's that going so far? I mean, it's January 5 - five full days into
the new year. So, if you're like many
people, you may already have chucked some of your resolutions into the "oh
well" pile of previous resolutions that didn't stick.
But that's the problem with making New Year's resolutions,
isn't it? We set ourselves several lofty
ideals, and then the humdrum of post-holiday time hits us as life returns to
whatever passes for "normal" for us, and we eat something not on our
diet resolution... or we get angry at the very person we resolved to be nice to
all year long... or we uttered words in anger that we resolved no longer to
speak... or... well, you get the picture.
For me, "resolutions" rarely have seemed to be the
life-altering tools that I expected would help me be (choose one): thinner, nicer, calmer, and on and on and on.
Yet my life is different and change has occurred over the
years: sometimes decisively, but
oft-times incrementally. What has helped
me change? Some observations:
1.
Have a plan, but build in lots of grace. No plan is able to be followed flawlessly. So
when "failure" inevitably happens, just take a breath, give yourself
some grace, and move on with your plan.
We are often our own harshest critics, and that seldom is to our
benefit.
2.
Find people who will help hold you accountable,
but who will also be your fiercest advocates.
Identify those people who you know will have your back, no matter what, and
then rely on their strength and support and guidance when you need it.
3.
Stay in community. Make time to spend with your family, with
close friends, with those with whom you gather to worship and pray each
week. Life is too difficult and too
challenging to try to "rough it out" yourself. The Lone Ranger might have been a
romanticized hero of Western lore, but God created us to be in community.
4.
Pray... meditate... keep a journal. In other words, reflect on how you're doing in
your life's journey, on the people that build you up and remind you to do and
be your best and truest self, on your connection with Christ who knew
intimately well what it means to live in this world of ours.
So, no... I'm not one for New Year's resolutions. I am one for living with intention, for
giving myself grace (not an easy thing for me to do, by the way), for making a
plan and then reworking it and then reworking it again and again, for living in
communities of love and faith and support, for living with introspection and
reflection, for living in the awareness of my need for Christ and of Christ's
never-ending, always-new love for me.
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