Every year around this time we begin to think about what we did, and what we didn’t do, what we should have done and what we shouldn’t have, the last days of December and the first days of January are ones of reflection; anticipation, and an attempt to change the things that we don’t like about ourselves or the things around us, we say things like “My new year’s Resolution is __________” or “This year I will not do __________” or “ I will start to do this ____________” and then for the next few weeks we are focused and determined to that thing or the things that we said we would do; but somewhere; short after our promises are made there is a place that we come to, a place that the reflection of the past year ends and the distractions of the new one begins and our old habits come creeping back in and our new ones slip away, and then in this place we begin to say self-comforting things like “Well, I made it to February this year!” “I’ll do better next year!” and the pressure of changing our lives habits thoughts are no longer as strong as they were maybe because everyone else, like you, has gotten to the same place. So what is the problem? Is it that we have good intentions but they are just that intentions. Do we really want to change that thing? For example do you really want to start making your bed every day? And if you do why do you have to wait until January first to start? It’s possible that we don’t want it badly enough, but just wanting it also is not enough there needs to be a deeper reason, or perhaps a larger perspective, like an example of a small perspective is this: I want to start making my bed because I don’t like having a messy bed when I go into my room or I like being able to go to bed at night having my bed made. But if we look at it from a bigger perspective like for example: I want to start making my bed because I realize that making my bed is a small thing but if I become disciplined in making my bed I then will start to build the discipline needed to other things every day with consistency, there is power in being faithful in the small things in life often we assume that in order to change our lives it needs to be something big, but I think the reality is that it’s the little things the little choices that will bring change into our lives. For example someone choosing the college and career it seems like those are big choices but they really are just more small choices that a part of a series of other small choices that lead up to the career that they are now going to college for, so we as humans really underestimate the power of the “Small” choices that we make. The Bible says in Luke 16:10-12 (NIV) “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” The change that we want to see in our lives starts with the little things, and the little things are easier to do like if I were to say I want to pray for 1 hour in the morning I would only be able to do that for a week maybe two at the most, but I know that I would get to a place that I would start to value my sleep over praying and I would convince myself that it is okay, that I did a good job for that one week, and then that would be another failed attempt to change and start doing something that I didn’t do last year, but if I started with a big perspective and a smaller thing I just may be able to start praying for 10-15 minutes every morning and after that becomes a habit for me than maybe I could change it into a half hour and make my way up to something bigger. But I need to start small. So with all that being said here is to a year of small things, of doing little things with big perspective may it be a year that we marvel in “mundane”
This is the group of people I spent New Years with. =)
The Fireworks I saw.
Raluca and I.
Mirela and I
And this is what happens when I try to do what the professional ice skater does in front of me... haha
