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I began this year like many people do. I thought of some goals and took off in pursuit of them. Though I didn’t go so far as to write them down here are the ones I began with and what I did to accomplish them:
- Conquer the book stack I got for Christmas = reading 8 books at once
- Exercise to overcome tiredness = beginning with Jillian Michael’s Yoga video (when I didn’t realize I was pregnant)
- A stricter writing schedule = 30-1hr per day on a specific project each day
- Homeschooling Liam (Yes, he’s just two)
- New House cleaning schedule (Need I say more?)
Begin the type A overachiever that I am, I didn’t even ease into these goals. I just started. All. At. Once.
I think this is what most of us do, though, maybe not to this extreme. When you have goals in mind, you take off at a sprint, and like me, now a few weeks in, you’re left exhausted and overwhelmed. I lasted only ten days into this routine.
It was at that point that I read a friend’s blog about allowing God to set your New Year’s resolutions. Her point was that instead of making a bunch of resolutions that we probably won’t keep anyway, why don’t we pray at it and peruse God’s word and see what he wants for us this year. Using her idea, here are my new resolutions for this year:
- Remember heaven: “For people who speak thus make it clean that they are seeking a homeland…But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for the a city.” ~Hebrews 11:14, 16
- Run for endurance, not for speed, and choose Joy!: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance they race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right of the throne of God.” ~ Hebrews 12:1-2
- Love God with everything, love yourself, and love others: “Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There are no commandments greater than these.'” ~ Mark 12:29-31
Since writing these new goals down, I have slowed down. I’ve narrowed my books to just two. I’ve let homeschooling my two year old go for now until I have more energy in a few months. I’ve given up a crazy intense workout (though it was good) for resting when I’m tired and then I may begin walking when the weather gets warmer. I’m still writing, but now that school has started, I’m just doing 20 minutes a day, and I’m not on a tight schedule. Pregnant with two preschoolers, I can’t be. And I’m giving myself grace. Grace to leave the house messy for a while. Grace to choose family over vacuuming. Grace to choose friends over a frenzied pace.
Because I’ve realized over the last few weeks that life isn’t a sprint. If I treat it like one, I’m going to trip up and end up on the side of the road very fast. Instead, I need to run it’s like a marathon. At a steady pace with a few friends to keep me company along the way.
