Starting the New Year...Again

 Starting the New Year usually begins with the anticipation that this year will be better than the previous year. We set goals and create plans to make the New Year better. Then, life hits, and we begin to crumble and slowly we begin to let go of our goals. We lose hope. Then, we repeat the same process the following year. I know this because I used to do this until I created manageable goals with addendums. That helped, especially this year when life hit in the beginning of January. 

In the beginning of my Christmas break, I sat down and created a list of detailed goals for the New Year. I set goals for each month, as I want to grow with my goals. Although the list seemed daunting, I knew it wasn’t. The New Year started, but my goals had to take a backseat to life events. 

My mom’s health was failing since the fall, but in December it worsened. When my mom passed on January 10th, I had to reset and do life differently. It was because of this event that I realized that it’s great to set goals for the New Year, but we must give ourselves grace for when life hits. So, no matter where your New Year starts, you can always start a New Year with goals and begin a process in life that will create a healthier life for yourself. 

Although I never told him, one of my pastors in 2014 challenged me. In the beginning of the message, he quoted statistics of how people do not keep resolutions. He actually said no one kept them. I saw that last statement as a challenge. Someone has to be keeping them because people keep hoping that they can keep them as they keep making them. So, I made a resolution that year to write every day and have a daily quiet time. I made a change that year that fixed everything. 

In 2015, as a I made the resolution to write every day, I made an addendum. I decided that if I missed a day, I would start all over the next day. Although I would claim that I never gave up and I was persistent, the truth was when I messed up, I gave up before 2015. So, I created the addendum to keep me going. In 2015, I created that addendum to give myself grace. Even though I didn’t have to use the addendum that year, it gave me less stress because I knew my goal was more than just writing every day. My goal was to improve my life with my writing. 

I didn’t miss a day of writing or a daily quiet time in 2015, and that year my writing improved. I kept that goal. The addendum stays, and this year, that addendum was necessary. So, if you made resolutions or goals and have not kept them, give yourself an addendum to start over in this new month of February. 

It is important for us to give grace to ourselves. Sometimes, the hardest person to forgive is yourself. Jesus gives grace, and we must give ourselves grace when we mess up. Life hits. It always will. Give yourself a fresh start every month, or even every week, or if necessary, every single day. You are worth it.