I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. Not anymore. I figure any time I see where and how I can improve myself, I should just do it. And there has always been more than enough to attend to!
The idea of taking inventory on an annual basis is frightening. My goodness, I hate to think of what I might find!
I am oh-so-comfortable with the Confession and Forgiveness part of worship as a way to hone in on my often unexamined, bad habits. I am not talking about the things that God has to search my heart to find; I am talking about the evidence all over my hands and across my face. It took me half a lifetime to realize that everything shows on my face. You can tell if I am happy or sad, confused or disappointed, angry or tired just by looking at me. Oh well.
This also confused me because yesterday’s failure would break into today’s new start! So I try to practice mindful living—being present in each new moment. I have learned a good confession allows me to release the past and work for better things in my present.
So I don’t know what you may have started out with on January 1, and maybe you are still going strong. I don’t want to discourage you! I just want to remind you—just in case you feel like you have already failed—that every day is a new day, and there is nothing that can keep you from trying again and again to succeed at something or other at which you have continuously failed.
Not a thing keeps you, a Child of God, from having a fresh start—endlessly!
Falling short is never the problem—falling short is actually a given. But how we care about and for ourselves when we fall short makes a huge difference! I have developed the habit of saying that God always has us fall forward. This is my way of saying that no matter what our failure may be, God is always moving us toward a healing future and aiming us forward into the adventure called life.
So keep your head up!
God bless you.