01 Jan Word of the Day – or YEAR!
Resolutions vs. Themes and other New Years Ramblings…
Hello Ready Set Sunday Readers and Happy New Year to you all!
I love this time of year. I love fresh starts, new opportunities, and all that a new year has to offer. I’ve never been great at resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I regularly have grandiose ideas about what I’d like to change/accomplish in my life and these goals/resolutions do not just appear at the turn of a new year. I tend to set goals all year long. I love to think through what I want to change, what I want to see happen, what I’d like to be a part of creating, etc. I also love writing it all out on pretty paper, printing it out, and finding a creative way to post it somewhere in my home as a reminder of what I’m hoping to accomplish. I love all that goes into goal setting and all of the preliminary steps. The issue is, I have a “consistency” problem. Like so many, I have the best intentions and start of the New Year with a bang, but about 3 weeks in – life takes over and I am back to square one, most times just feeling like a failure.
A few years back, I decided instead of resolutions, to focus on a theme… a word or something that could be a part of all aspects of my life. One year, my word was GRACE. One year, it was DISCIPLINE. Last year, my theme was FOLLOW THROUGH and I committed to finish what I started – even if it wasn’t instantaneous. For example, I committed to following through when I told a friend “We should grab lunch,” and then I actually made the call and put a date on the calendar. I committed to following through when I promised my husband I would clean up the storage room of the basement and actually got it done – even if it did take several months. I committed to being on time for things… well, I’m still working on that one!
At any rate, this year – my theme/word is CONSISTENCY. Ironic – huh? I want to be consistent with so many things – exercise, nutrition, Bible study, and yes – blogging! I’m trying not to make unrealistic goals for myself. In the past, I would set myself up for failure as I would commit to doing something (in every area of my life) everyday for a certain amount of time. Then, I’d never be able to keep the schedule I set for myself, and I’d quit within a short amount of time. So, in an attempt to set myself up for success (and consistency), I am committing to just being consistent. I know that sounds simple and obvious… but I’m thinking if I don’t put some huge schedule or time frame on myself and focus on just doing something everyday (from a few areas of my life I’ve highlighted), then maybe consistency will take shape in my life.
#DoOverBook
One way that I am hoping to accomplish this is through a program I signed up for online. I LOVE Jon Acuff’s blog. If you haven’t read it, you should. He is so funny and so inspired. He can have you rolling on the floor laughing and at the same time, be imparting some incredible nugget of wisdom. At any rate, back in December, I noticed on Jon Acuff’s Facebook Page that he was offering this challenge for the New Year called the 10-Day DO OVER Challenge. The idea is to pick something you wish you could do over. Some sort of dream you’d like to chase for 10 days. Maybe it’s something you started and never finished or something new you’d like to try. Then, you are supposed to work on it for 10 minutes each day for 10 days.
The reason I am sharing all of this with you is because you’ll never guess what I’ve picked for my DO OVER CHALLENGE! Yes, that’s right guys – it’s YOU! It’s this blog. As proof of my commitment, I am sharing one of our first exercises with you. The first thing we were asked to do was to doodle our Do Over. Here is my doodle. Hey, I never claimed to be an artist!
Why Ready Set Sunday?
2014 was a terrific year for me, marked with some really great moments. But, it was also marked with some very difficult moments that took my attention away from blogging… well, yes… you guessed it… CONSISTENTLY.
Our church’s time without a place to meet was one of these moments. Designing/moving into our current building was another. Other ministry events and life in general added to my inconsistency here on ReadySetSunday, but I hope to remedy that here in 2015. I’m excited about what I might learn through this 10-Day Do Over Challenge and I’m hopeful it will carry on beyond 10 days and become a habit. Only time will tell.
I am grateful for you – my readers – who CONSISTENTLY comment, post, share photos, like statuses, and just generally have supported this blog (and me)… even when I haven’t been as consistent as I might like. I’d love to know what you are planning to work on in 2015. Jump down to the comments below and share your ideas, thoughts, goals, resolutions!
I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and I look forward to connecting with you CONSISTENTLY throughout 2015. Uh-oh… now, it’s out there in print. Looks like I have to make it work! Wish me luck!
Get Ready! Get Set! It’s 2015 – the year of CONSISTENCY!
