Resolving resolutions

The end of a year signifies many things for a lot of people. For some, it can be a celebration of many accomplishments or maybe one huge achievement. Others may be celebrating the good riddance of a troubling and disappointing time. Whatever the reason, people in general are excited to see a new year. I believe that this is the time when visions for a better life are most vivid among people. They think about all the things they will change...and how great life will be after they accomplish the goal. We call them new year resolutions.

  Here's a short list of some of my favorite past resolutions: 

• Lose weight 

• Go back to school  

• Save more money  

• Attend church more 

• Stop smoking 

• Take a vacation 

•  Be more helpful to others. 

 At one time or another, I was able to accomplish each one of these resolutions! I did lose weight (though I might have gained some of it back);and so forth and so on. Realizing each resolution had its own difficulties and their own rewards. The one characteristic that each resolution shared however, was that I couldn't settle into the new year, giving into to the temptations that drove me to have to make the resolutions in the first place. I had to make fundamental changes in order to realize the resolutions. The first change I made was in my mindset.

 The biggest reason that so many new years resolutions never get resolved (ha ha) is because people never really make the fundamental changes that are required to make it happen. For example, people run out and sign up for gym memberships and then figure out how to incorporate actually going to the gym in their schedule...heck, a lot of them won't even incorporate cancelling the membership after they have joined and then never make it...and I am not just putting the blame on other people, I have been guilty of such activity myself.

 But I did change...and you can too! All you have to do is choose to be committed. After all, The Bible tells us in Prov. 13:4 "The desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Then make the fundamental changes required to make your resolution a reality. Next, try to maintain your emotions while you're making the changes you need to make. Don't look at the situation completely from an emotional standpoint. Emotions (especially when they are high) can make any reality look bleak. Escape the emotion by working at achieving your resolution. Eventually everything else you need will seem to resolve your resolution will just be in your path...there for the taking!

Take some time to clear your mind

Sometimes, we can get so hung up on all of the things that we have to do.  This is especially so for women.  We take on all of the issues involving the household, the kids, the family, and our friends.  We put the weight of other people's problems on our shoulders.  We crowd our minds with so much information, that before we know it everything becomes urgent (when in reality a lot of what we feel is urgent, really isn't)!  We start spinning our wheels to move forward with this weight faster, and as we unload one thing, we pick up another.

People in a typical workforce, live for the weekend.  They look forward to not having to make the commute into the workplace, hear the boss screaming all day, and not having to focus on the mounds of work on the desk- that we just can't seem to get through...And we live to forget other things as well, the shuffling of kids during the week day carpool, the morning and afternoon traffic-jams, power lunches, and all of the unexpected things that come up from all around. 

Once we make it to the weekend- those two days where we expect to savor our down time, what do we do?  We unconsciously fill it still, with such things as household chores and extra-curricular activities for the kids.  And before we know it, it's Sunday evening- and still that time is filled with getting ourselves prepared for our normal survival grinds of the next week. We find ourselves feeling sluggish...grumpy even...not knowing where the time has gone and why we're still tired.

This is a strong indication that you need to take some time to clear your mind!  You need to find a place where you can escape your busy and task filled world, so that you can think of...you guessed it....absolutely nothing!  You don't need extra money to do this, you don't have to take a trip or even leave your house.  Hide out in your bathroom, a closet, or take some time in your car while your kids are focused on their extra-curricular actitivies, to close your eyes- and let your mind rest.  Tell yourself, "I don't want to think of anything", and you won't!  Ask God to come into that empty space in your mind and let him relax you with his reassurance that he is there for you.  Let him know that you are thankful for your life with all of its busyness, but that you also appreciate the time to unwind mentally.  Eventually (and it's a QUICK eventually), you will start to feel better....rested...able...and happy.  You will be able to think more clearly when you get back to thinking...but it will be better, more focused, and the most urgent benefit, is you will be filled again!

Everyone needs a good support system

Sometimes, people get angry and say, "I don't need you!"  And out of that anger, they sometimes push away someone that could really help them get to where they want to be in this life.  We sometimes say those words to a dear friend or family member, and because of our own selfishness, we lose the opportunity to reconcile with them, and cherish with them the last great moments that either they or we have on this precious earth.

Who are we to think that we need no one?  Who are we to believe that we can make in this world without asking someone for a favor, even if it's a stranger, and even worse, believe that we can get all that we want out of life without being of assistance to someone else. So many of us profess being Christians and doing our best to live by the example that Jesus set for us, but even Jesus couldn't fulfill all the tasks that our father laid out before him alone.  He needed 12 disciples to help him to get the job done.  Sure, he did do the biggest task on his own, which was to give his life so that we could have an everlasting one, but in Jesus' 32 short years on this earth, he was surely not going to be able to spread the gospel all over the world to the people present during his time, and most definitely, the task would have been impossible after life was removed from his physical body!

The same is true today.  Most of us wanted to do something special when we were children (and many of us still do as adults).  But without a good support system, its really almost impossible to accomplish a great feat.  Take Henry Ford for example, he had less than a sixth grade education, but he was able to revolutionize the automobile industry, and the foundation that he laid, still exists today in Ford Motor Company.  He didn't do it alone either!  He went out and found people who were more educated than he, and motivated them to get to work on his dream!  The same is true for Thomas Edison, who used a think tank to perfect many of his inventions.  When the founding fathers of the United States decided to become an independent nation, they called on regular citizens from the 13 colonies to hold back the British Army, and even though they were not skilled in the art of warfare, they defeated them and became an independent nation.  And there are countless others, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Ghandi, and Mother Teresa, just to name a few- who found people who believed in what they were trying to do enough to encourage them and even join them in their quest to accomplish great things.  

Your support system doesn't have to be just family, it can be friends, co-workers, and even strangers who believe enough in what you may be trying to do, that will want to encourage you, offer ideas, and in the best case join you!  The best thing is that you can seek out people in the same way, find out what they are passionate about and share your passion with them if you feel the same way about it.  Two heads are always better than one.  I encourage you to get started on that great feat that is rambling around inside of you, and keep searching until you find the people that will stand by you until you finish it!  You will be so happy that you did, and even happier to lend the same level of support to them!

You can find the Savior in your work!

As children we dream, and we often dream really big!  We aspire to do great things or to help a lot of people.  If we believe that we don't have enough as children, then we tend to hope for having enormous wealth in our adult lives.  Some of us will even begin to map out a way as children to live our dreams.

But as we get older and it is necessary for us to take on responsibility, we can start to become disconnected to what's really important and as a result, we lose the memory of the dreams we had as children.  Our minds become so cluttered with things of only surface importance and we can even forget how to dream.  While in this dreamless state, we often do one of two things: Either we become so complacent that we simply settle for the life we have (though subconsciously it's not the one we want), or two we get restless enough about our situation to make a change.

I have found myself representing both groups in the past. Being a part of the latter group is what changed my life for the better. The biggest dissatisfaction that I had with my life way back then was that I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to be able to live life on my terms all the time. My biggest fear was that without a job where I depended on someone else to write my paycheck, I would wind up with nothing, being forgotten by the world. Until one day, while working at the worst job I have ever had, it hit me! All of the anguish I had while working there was a lot of work! I was tired all the time. I didn't still didn't have all the things I wanted, and there was nothing that the company I worked for was going to do to change that. Those were my problems, not theirs.

I was able to rationalize with myself and say, "Hmm...if you are going to work hard for someone, let it be for yourself!  What do the people in charge here have that you don't have or can't get?"  I took a giant leap of faith, and here I sit.  A successful business owner, working way successfully through a multitude of projects.  I am now happy to get to bed late at night, and can rise early in the morning refreshed, because I decided to go out and do what I love.  We get so caught up focusing on the results of something, that we never realize what a wonderful journey we took to get there!  Sure, I have made mistakes and will undoubtedly make more...its okay...because I am doing what I love to do it doesn't feel like work...and even if it did, it sure still beats the heck out of "working hard" with anguish and disgust for someone who doesn't appreciate it.  As long as you remember that you can take God on your journey, wherever you choose to go- you will find that arriving at the destination is not nearly as enjoyable as is being touched in a powerful way by our Lord and Savior because you "worked" to get there.