2014

Yes, it's January 2nd, but I honestly have not even had time to think about my New Year's resolutions until now. Knowing that everybody gets sooooo excited about the new year, makes a ton a resolutions, and inevitably fails to maintain those resolutions throughout the year almost turns me off from making New Year's resolutions at all. I don't want to be one of those people that stops going to the gym in March. 

But I heard a pastor say that the new year is a time of "natural transition," so taking this time to make resolutions is instinctive. After all, we are the only ones responsible for whether or not we stick to those resolutions.

I obviously know what I resolution is, but I wanted to get more to the root of the word becaues so often we take that word lightly. So here goes: 

 re·solve

  verb (used with object)

  to come to a definite or earnest decision

And I love the word "earnest," so I looked that up too:

    ear·nest     

        adjective

        serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous

Oh, "zealous"-that's another good word!

              zeal·ous

    adjective

              ardently active, devoted, or diligent

                  Synonyms: enthusiastic,eager, fervid, fervent, intense, passionate, warm. 

                  Antonyms: apathetic; lackadaisical.

When you bring all of those definitions together, you get that a resolution is to resolve to do something, which means to make a decision to sincerely be devoted or diligent to something. Those are a lot of strong words. It's not just, "Hey, it's New Year's! Let's think of some fun things to do until I get tired of doing them." 

So this year I am choosing to make resolutions that I can (and will) accomplish. That's how my dad always taught us to do our resolutions. He said to make sure they are: 

• attainable (obviously I'm not going to resolve to make a million dollars this year-that just ain't happenin')

• measurable (I can say "I want to be more awesome this year"-how would you know if I was or not?? You can't measure that...)

• realistic (I may want to memorize Scripture, and although memorizing the entire Bible is attainable, it's not very realistic for me. That's when you just have to scale things back a little bit)

With this in mind, I shall begin my resolutions list.

• Finish paying off my student loans
• Memorize Romans 8 and Philippians 4
• Get plugged into a church in Dallas
• Figure out what the heck I am supposed to do for my taxes (time to put on my big girl panties, ughhhhh)
• Start keeping a budget instead of just spending money whenever I have it
• Keep receipts for Catchlight [by Courtney.] for travel expenses
• Don't get overwhelmed or cynical by everyone getting engaged/married around me, but continue in prayer for those couples and be happy for them
• Don't rush into a relationship because of loneliness
• Intentionally love on the people around me (either by texts or letters or hanging out)
• Find a resolution accountability partner-someone who is going to check up on me and will make sure I'm sticking to the goals I set

2013 was full of adventure, so I can't wait for this next year. 

Let 2014 begin!!