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And here we are: on the cusp of a new year. A new beginning. Of new dreams. A new year filled with renewed purpose and a restored passion for life.
Today is the last Monday of 2014. And while there is nothing magical about January 1st, there is something magical about a fresh start. The moment we make up our minds to succeed, to go for the proverbial gold, is the moment that we do succeed.
We can write to-do lists until they start growing out of our ears; we can do-do-do-do-do until we become blue in the face; we can fall down so many times until we feel like getting up is no longer an option. Yet we must convince ourselves that the moment we choose to have a new beginning is the moment success becomes tangible.
And although the taste of success is sweet, the lessons learned on the road to that success teach us to appreciate the journey and how to savor it. For when we begin anything new, while the end goal is indeed to succeed, the true purpose of the journey is to learn — both from the successes and from the failures.
January 1st is Thursday. This Thursday. Like in three-days-kind-of-Thursday. I guarantee you that your local gym will be bursting with more people this weekend than it will be the rest of the year. More Bibles will be read on January 1st than on any of the remaining 364 days of 2015. More bad habits will be given up only to replaced with something else a few days later. We are all too familiar with the new year’s resolution concept, with setting goals, with understanding that January 1st is a time to reinvent ourselves.
Yet may I ask you a personal question?
What if, instead of reinventing yourself, you simply better yourself? You have begun and done the “fresh start” thing many times, I am sure, because I have done it. But what if you simply take who you are and what you are and choose to work on who you are now?
Don’t start over, just continue the process that was already started in 2014. For while I am sure not every goal you set for yourself at the beginning of this year has actually been completed (because mind certainly haven’t either, sadly), I also know that you have learned much on your journey of life this year. Tragedies happen, situations arise, hearts are broken, dreams fade, plans change, life becomes uncertain.
So what if, instead of putting 2014 on the shelf of failed-attempt stories in your mind, you put it on the “I-learned-a-lot” shelf? Then pick up where you left off. Pick up your dreams, your courage, your vision and do something about it. Go for the gold that you deserve. Allow God to direct your life so that you may obtain your heavenly crown of gold and jewels to represent the princess you are.
Be strong and courageous in your efforts to be intentional this year.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” {Joshua 1:9, ESV}
Be brave and bold enough to to be honest with yourself about what you want to accomplish, you who want to be, and where you want to be at the end of 2015. I am on a mission to make a difference, to fulfill God’s calling on my life, to savor every moment of life as it is lived.
What is your mission, your vision, your purpose?
What is God calling you to do, to become, to accomplish? As you think about what you want 2015 to be, consider allowing it to be the year God uses you in greater ways than you could imagine. Consider the possibility that, if you open yourself up to what His purpose is for you life, your greatest success lie just up ahead. Consider that your dreams may be lesser than what Jesus has planned for your life; and if it means letting go of your own hopes and dreams, giving them up for what Christ has for you instead will be so much greater.
So here we are, my dear reader. Three days away from what could be the greatest year of your entire life. The year that could take you places you never dreamt would be possible. The year that becomes the journey of a lifetime.
Unlock the maximum potential in your life by being intentional about what God has planned for you this year!
Girl, go for the gold: Live 2015 for God, be intentional.