Wednesday, December 31, 2014

New Years Revolution...

 
                      It's been a great year, although reasonably uneventful...
                           That is not a bad thing. I consider it a positive, in fact.
                   So New Years Eve beckons the age old questions about the future.
                                    What would I like to do different, this year?
                                         What would I like to change?
                         
                                 The short answer, for me is " not a whole lot".
                          
             That is kind of a slap in the face to the whole " New Years Resolution" sentiment...
                  
                                            I'm not going to focus on changes. 
                     Change comes from the heart and God holds mine in His hand. If I remain open and teachable, His work will happen, in His perfect timing...
                  That does not remove any responsibility or accountability from my shoulders, it just clarifies the perspectives, a little bit...
                                             So I do not resolve to change anything.
                               What I do " resolve" to do, is to try my best to do some of the things I already do, just a little bit better...
                              Like to take an extra breath before speaking to my grumbling, hormonal son...
                      To remember patience and understanding are needed far more than frustration and anger; that he is perplexed more by his own behaviors and attitudes than I will ever be...
                                                   Let me start with that one...
                        To think the best of the people in my life when situations imply in my little mind, that they purposely chose to offend me...
                               Almost never, is that the case. My thin skin and insecurities always lead my thinking askew, into the inevitable and unenviable lands of apology and regret...
                        To remember almost nothing done in this life is as personal as I tend to take things...
                               And if by some miracle, it actually is, then that's ok, too..
                                    We are all Gods children. We all make mistakes.
                           Maybe to notice more those who are struggling under their own weights, those who overload themselves with tasks that are numbingly overwhelming...
                                         To offer help to the ones who will not ask...
                                    I certainly could stand to do that, a little more often...
                             To Pray first, instead of judging first...to practice love instead of resentment...
                   Improvement in all these areas trumps anything else I can come up with to " change"..
                                Maybe, for one year, this is a difficult enough list...
                                        To be better. Not to earn Grace or favor; not in any attempt to " trick" God into believing I'm " good enough"...
                                    He knows I'm not. He holds my heart and knows the full content of my soul; every inadequacy and imperfection and selfish thought...
                    But to be better, to try to do better, because it is simply what I'm supposed to do...
                                          Love more. Judge less. Forgive often...
                                               Simple is almost never easy.
            Usually, the level of difficulty of any task is directly proportional to its level of simplicity... 
                                                 
                                                And love is the simplest task of all...

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