I Always Break New Year's Resolutions

How about you?  Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Why or why not? And, if you do, do you keep them?

Me... I always seem to break New Year's resolutions. And, every year, I make them again. But, I don't break EVERY resolution. And some resolutions I manage to keep for months & months. One or two make it through a complete year -- now & then.  

Why do I make them if my completion ratio is so low? I believe in the value of seasons. And, that's why I make resolutions at the beginning of each year. 

In many ways, I have hated change. I've gotten comfortable with things as they are... you know, settling into the familiar good while ignoring the familiar bad (with the hopes that it will somehow change on its own). I've come to learn... accept... and actually embrace change in my "old age."  Change sometimes means a new, not necessarily awesome thing.  But, more often, change brings something better... something that brings me hope for a better day!

Ringing in the
New Year!

So every year, I decide to put the past behind me & make some changes. The last few weeks of the year (and sometimes the first few weeks of the New Year), I spend some quality time reviewing what was, what is & what I want to BE.  I make a list of resolutions & dive into them -- knowing that some will go by the wayside & other's will be revised BUT, also knowing that good will come from what unfolds.

The New Year is an opportunity to start over... to look at your dreams, hopes, desires, etc... and to make plans to attain those goals... to have a better tomorrow. 

In the words of Dave Ramsey, 

"A goal without a plan is just a dream." 

So begin making a few plans... and bring your dreams to life!

His words:

• "And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new... these words are true and faithful." Revelation 21:5
• "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
• Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 
• "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17