Resolutions Unmade?

Are New Year's resolutions a thing of the past?  I have asked several people if they made them, and I have yet to have anyone answer affirmatively.  I have seen some new faces in the gym, but, as a whole, I wonder if we just pass on the resolutions these days.

Is it because we know we are going to break them and so we don't make them?  I tend to think it is because we just don't slow down long enough to consider where we are in life, how we got there, and what it will take to get us where we want to go.  Am I right?

A Few of Mine

I made a few resolutions this year.  I'll share some of them:

• I read through the entire Bible for the second year in a row in 2012.  I have already started a different reading plan in a different version for 2013. 
• Discipleship is a top priority.  What I have learned about God is not just for me -- not even especially for me -- but for the sake of the kingdom of Christ, for others.
• I am going back to school this year.  I consider myself a lifelong learner, but it has been over 10 years since I have actually been in school and even longer since I last took an academic class.
• I am going back to Haiti and investing in one of the children at the House of Abraham on a monthly basis.
• I'm not good at keeping tabs on all the maintenance needs of my vehicles.  I do have an iPhone with a really cool feature: a calendar with reminders that I can use to remind me of something I wouldn't just naturally move toward without them.
• I plan to read more.  And go to bed earlier.  There's a correlation. 

What About You?

There are more, but you get the picture.  Have you slowed down enough to consider adjustments that you need to make in your life?  Will you go on that first mission trip this year or start that blog or go on that first daddy-daughter date?  What are those good intentions that will remain just that until you determine to act on them?

Good intentions tend to lead to what my friend Jacob refers to as "rollover days," when one day begins to look like the one before and the one before that.  Good intentions just lie on the table until they become regrets of what could have been. 

Here are a few simple suggestions to get you on track to breaking away from the rollover days.  I'll start with the hardest one for most people. 

1. Schedule some time alone -- 30 minutes, a couple of hours, a long weekend.  Be really alone.  Turn off the phone!
2. Pray.  God knows much better than you do what adjustments your life needs.
3. Journal.  Write it down.  Start with random thoughts and then go about processing them into an action plan.
4. Get started.  However small your initial steps are, start moving.  Begin with the end in mind, but know that you won't get there immediately.  (I fully expect to finish reading through the Bible again this year, but right now I am still in Genesis and Job.  Revelation won't come until the end of the year.)

Thanks for reading.  I would be very interested to hear what resolutions you have already made for 2013 and the ones that you make as a result of spending some time alone in the next few days.

4theVoiceless,
Al