New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep

Every new year we make promises to ourselves about improving ourselves in some manner.  Our resolve strengthened by the promise of a clean slate, we vow to eat better, exercise more, or get out of debt.  Most New Year’s resolutions are forgotten by the end of the first week.  With that in mind, I offer three resolutions that require minimal effort.  However, their impact on the lives of those who keep them can be profound.

First, spend more time being a kid.  If you have kids, this may simply mean getting down on the floor and playing with them.  In doing so, our spirits are fueled by their imagination and capacity to see the good in things.  Time spent with a child, in their world and on their terms serves as a reminder of simpler times before the specter of responsibility came knocking.  There is freedom in the smile of a happy child, both for them and for those who witness it.

Second, be a better partner, husband, wife, and friend.  Many times that means lending an ear, a shoulder, a helping hand, or a hand to hold.  Other times it means being willing to put ourselves on the back burner in order to accommodate the needs of another.  Everyone has that friend they refer to as a “shirt-off-his-back” type of person.  Most wish they could be like that.  I ask, what’s stopping you?

           
           Third, stop worrying.  “What if” will kill you.  There are stacks upon stacks of reports and studies showing the adverse effects stress and anxiety have on the human body.  If it’s in the past, there is nothing that can change it.  Leave it in the past.  Future things belong to God, for He alone knows our path.  In Matthew 6:27, Jesus asks, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  The answer is no one.  That does not mean that we should not make plans or keep our responsibilities.  God makes clear that we are to do our due diligence in our lives.  However, when we rely on and trust in God, our future is manageable.

These are easy to keep if you remain diligent.  Plus, there is no guilt when you slip up and have a cupcake.  Happy New Year everyone.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11 NIV