As a new year approaches, like many
people I have been searching for a resolution to incorporate into my life. Also
like many people, I struggle in finding a resolution that I find attainable,
rational, and realistic. While there are many things in my life that I could do
better at, fix, and integrate into my day to day experiences, one I have chosen
to implement is writing in a blog again. For multiple reasons it’s a tedious
experience. It really takes some endurance to make myself sit down, write,
edit, post, and repeat week after week. Also, sharing my thoughts can be a
little frightening. In the back of my mind, when I do something like this, I
immediately upon hitting “post” worry about how others will take what I just
published. Even more so, I worry is anyone interested in the first place? These
thoughts lead into our first post…
I can count on one hand the amount
of people I know who have set out on a New Year resolution, and followed
through. This leads me to the question of why so many failures? I can only
derive answers from my own personal shortcomings, and they follow as such.
I think the first issue is that
we immediately synonymize New Year with an immediate rebirth. This reminds me
of my childhood video gaming. No matter what game I played, one thing was for
certain. When failing drastically on a certain level, having no health in my health
bar, and wasting a thousand helpful items, I was never concerned. Of course I was
always really mad, but never concerned. This was because I knew I would get a
restart, that I would start the level a second time the same way I had started
it the first time. Call me crazy, but I don’t think January 1st is a
reset button. It is a good threshold to make an effort to make changes, but the
truth is you aren’t starting the New Year the same way you started the last.
Life has happened, pain has happened, addiction, love, family, work things have
definitely occurred over the course of the last year. I know for me I like to
leave out the variables and call for clean slate, but when I’m honest with
myself, I know it doesn’t work that way. New Year doesn’t mean the bad things
just went away. Plan accordingly. You can accomplish anything, but don’t expect
to do it cold turkey and easily, because you didn’t get a “reset.”
Short comings and failures… I remember
after every sporting event I ever played, I could count on one thing. My
father, unless out of town, would pick me up in his red Tahoe. This was never
just because I needed a ride; I of course had a mother more than capable of
completing such a minor task. The reason was simple, there was always need for
a dissection of my performance. Many nights I would hop in the truck on fire. I
scored this many touchdowns, I ran this time on my hundred-yard-dash, or I
scored x-amount of baskets. On nights like this, my dad fuelled my fire and
praised me, but like anyone, not all of my games were perfect. Some nights I
would hop into that same truck, there would be an awkward pause, and I would
get a “Well Josh. Not your best game.” From there he would first point out what
I did right, and then proceed with a list of tweaks for the next game. Some
nights it would be hard to swallow, but it was necessary for future successes.
Just like being an athlete some days you’re going to knock your resolution out
of the park, and other days you’ll fail. Take the good with the bad, and
dissect it. If A and B aren’t adding up, make a tweak for tomorrow. These
tweaks are all for the greater good of accomplishing your goal. Don’t forget to
fuel your fire though either. When you did a good job, let yourself know you
did a good job. Positive reinforcement is important too. Even if I scored three
touchdowns, I might have fumbled the ball in the same game. There’s no such
thing as perfection, and always room for improvement.
Speaking of my Tahoe rides,
accountability is crucial. Without any form of accountability, reaching our
goals is beyond difficult. As humans we have perfected the art of reasoning
ourselves to failure. I know given enough time to analyze doing something I don’t
want to, I can talk myself out of it EASILY. When debating whether I’m going to
complete a difficult task, I can always make myself get out of it by “rationalizing.”
Sometimes I tell myself its ok not to follow through because I have so much to
do, I’m not feeling well, I’m tired, etc. This is where it’s crucial to have an
accountability partner. Sometimes we need a loving hand to spur us forward.
Sometimes we need a cattle prod. Find someone who knows you and can push you
accordingly. It’s also important for you to, again, have someone to dissect
your progress. You’re going through a hard enough experience as is. You’ll need
to have a loving hand some days, and others a swift kick.
If not most important is the
spiritual aspect. Philippians 4:13 states that “I can do all things through Him
who strengthens me.” Sounds awesome right? It totally is, but sinful nature
prevents us from putting trust in / investing in this verse. For me it’s not
that I don’t believe this, rather it’s that I want to ignore it. While I know
with God’s assistance I can accomplish anything, my sinful desire is to not
complete what I lie about wanting to complete. This prevents me from leaning on
Him who gives me strength wholly. In order to apply God in our resolution, we
have to first accept humility and reflect on a hard fact. A lot of the reason we’re
struggling at fulfilling our resolution, is that in our hearts we don’t really
want to accomplish it. We don’t want to work out more, eat right, set our
phones down, or spend more time with family. As brothers and sisters in Christ,
we have to own up to the truth behind why it’s so mentally, physically, and
spiritually taxing: we love our vices! I know this year, with grand plans to do
so much to better myself, I will have to TRULY lean on God. Not just say it,
but do it. Obviously easier said than done, but again Philippians 4:13.
So here’s to 2014! Best of luck
to you all, and hopefully you found this remotely helpful. #yolo2014
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