Every year we all watch the clock tick from 11:59 on December 31st to 12:00AM on January 1st, and we celebrate the new possibilities of what is to come. We are so glad to be done with the year that was behind us and the trials and troubles that came with it, whether they came upon us or we caused them. For the past few years, I have noticed that many people complain of how bad the old year was and look forward to what is to come. For the year 2020, many are thankful to put it behind them, as it was difficult and full of trials, but maybe, just maybe those trials are what created the year to be unique.
We have to take one day at a time and stop giving up when we miss our goals for one day. Before the year 2015, I would set goals or resolutions to do something every day. Usually, the task was writing. Then, I would miss a day. Then, I was done. I didn’t take the time to develop a habit. I didn’t take the time to give grace for one missed day. Then, in 2015, a pastor said, “No one ever keeps their New Year’s resolutions.” I know what he said after that, but I took that first line as a challenge. I decided that year to write every day, but I also decided that if I miss, I just pick it up the next day and start over. What a huge relief that was. A habit was developed. It’s now five years later and I’m still going strong writing every day.
We have to develop good and healthy habits. It’s interesting how quick we develop bad habits that we usually don’t realize that we have developed them. We spend time watching Netflix or television. We eat unhealthy foods because we have convinced ourselves that we do not have time to create a healthy meal. We stop exercising because we claim we do not have time, while we spend more time binge watching a show on Netflix. This entire list contains all my excuses. We don’t have to focus on creating bad habits because they are easy to create. Many people focus on stopping the bad habits, which becomes difficult. We have to focus on creating good habits.
Creating good habits is one of my downfalls. I write every day. It took a full year for that habit to really become something that was routine. We create good habits when we decide that we must make a change in our lives to have a different or better life. It starts slow and gets stronger each and every day. It starts with creating good habits around the habits we really want to develop.
If we really want to make the year better or different we have to face challenges or difficulties head on and conquer them. The year 2020 was so difficult for most people. Many lost loved ones. Many lost their jobs. Many lost relationships. How we handle disappointments and tragedies reveals our strengths and weaknesses in our character. Life will never be without them. It doesn’t matter what day it is, what month it is or what year it is. Life happens and it can hit us hard. Do we hit it back or do we sit back and wallow and drown ourselves in our sorrows?
We have to fight through all of our struggles. We must take the time to grieve. We must go through the grieving process. That’s part of the fight. We can never stop fighting through our trials. Trials build our character and perseverance. We cannot run from trials, but embrace them. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 (NIV) Our struggles and trials create us to be strong. Our strength does not come from the good things in life, but from those things that cut our very soul.
It was from the trials that I develop good habits. It is from trials that the habit of writing every day became routine. In order to have the best year, we need to resolve to become strong with every trial that we will face, and realize that it will create a character in us with good habits. When we become strong, our lives become different and we can look back at the end of the year and recognize our growth and how wonderful the year was because we became stronger. Happy New Year! May it be a year when we all become stronger because we have created one good habit.
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