It’s the last day of January as this post goes up, and I know a lot of you are already feeling like you’ve failed in what you hoped to accomplish in this new year.
I just want to stop everything right now and tell you that you are not a failure.
Seriously, y’all. It’s not too late to turn things around. His mercies are new every morning. Just because you caved and ate some pizza and chocolate two weeks into your new diet (…or maybe that’s just me) or haven’t even gotten started yet on your decluttering project (again, maybe just me) doesn’t mean you’ve failed and should give up. You’ve still got 11 months left to meet your goals for 2017 (and if some of them have to get pushed to 2018 it’s probably not that big a deal–the world probably isn’t actually going to end before then despite what the media says and you’ll still have time. Life is a marathon, not a race).
I hate New Year’s Resolutions — they set you up to feel like a failure and a loser. That’s why I’ve been moving away from setting major, concrete goals and instead making tweaks and edits to how I do life as I go (more on that in a future post). There’s no deadline and no expiration date. Just prayerful self-examination and asking God to order my steps and show me which way is best.
With God, every new day is a fresh start. Amen.
For those of you who need some encouragement or motivation, a different perspective, or maybe a little help, here are some links that might speak to where you’re at right now.
- Stop setting stupid goals and Master the Bullet Journal at The Lazy Genius Collective – Kendra is full of wisdom when it comes to keeping it together without driving yourself insane. And if you’ve been thinking about trying bullet journaling she can tell you everything you need to know.
- Four Reasons to Slow Down – Desiring God
- Praying for Peace instead of Resolutions by Mary Carver for Mothers of Daughters
- 3 Questions to Ask Before You Declutter at The Art of Simple
- What to Do When You’re Just Overwhelmed at Proverbs 31 Ministries
- And from the archives: What Matters Most (ICYMI last week) and Loving My Actual House
How’s your New Year going so far? Did your January go according to plan or was it a disaster? Have any additional links to share? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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PS: Find more encouragement for your soul at these linkups:
Holley Gerth’s Coffee For Your Heart
Missional Women’s Faith Filled Fridays
#DreamTogether at God-Sized Dreams
PPS: Looking for some a-MAZ-ing tools and resources to help you be more productive, write better and/or generally do life while keeping your sanity? I’ve got the goods — sign up to receive Daydreamer Dispatches, a once- or twice-a-month newsletter from yours truly, and you’ll automatically receive a super-sekrit link to My Absolute Must-Have, Can’t Live Without Tools and Resources list! Click here to get your link!
A Jesus girl through and through, Jean Marie Bauhaus is on a journey of healing and rediscovering who God purposefully created her to be and figuring out how to do life within that context. She’s the wife of Matt and mom to a crew of four-legged dependents, all of whom make their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jean counts coffee, dark chocolate and a yarn addiction among her vices. She’s the author of Restless Spirits, a family-friendly paranormal romance/mystery now available from Vinspire Publishing. You can learn more about her novels and short fiction at jeanmariebauhaus.com.
January did not quite go as planned… I haven’t spent a single minute on my poetry collection (which is something I REALLY want to be working hard on), I’m down to the last minute on a creative project I thought I had given myself plenty of time for, I’ve signed up for a creative commission that I probably shouldn’t have for time/stress reasons but will see through because I promised, and Christmas is still hanging up in my house (not to mention I haven’t cleaned the house since BEFORE the holidays either). *screams into a pillow* Okay. I’m better now. I’ve also had some crappy health issues, which is not always in my control and I know it. There are evenings I’ve had time for the things on my list, but not the health or energy, and instead of forcing myself to do things anyway I was smart (for once) and rested. It may not have been productive, but it was the best for me. And I’m definitely re-evaluating (already) the first month of the year and going ‘what did I do wrong since this is supposed to be my year of giving time/care to myself and enjoying (key word) my creative pursuits?’ It is only the first month. And as long as we learn from it, adjust, and grow… we’ll get there. =)
I’m planning a post soon on managing time vs. managing capacity, but the short version is, I had to learn to stop filling my days according to how much time I appeared to have for getting stuff done, and instead figure out my capacity for getting stuff done and planning my days around that instead. Because my actual capacity is actually a lot smaller than the amount of time I have each day. I always used to beat myself up for not managing my time better and not getting more done. But when you factor in things like energy and ability to focus, these things tend to really limit how much time you can spend each day being productive and make it a lot more obvious that you also need to factor in time for things that fill us back up and recharge us when we become depleted. You have to give yourself permission to slow down and realize that sometimes the most productive thing you can do is to stop doing for a while.
Resolutions are such a funny thing. As if turning the calendar page can make me into a whole different person! Ha! I’ve come to realize God doesn’t use a calendar. He’s all about that yesterday, today, tomorrow, forevermore, thing. I could use more of that in my life. More grace (my word last year). More joy (my word this year). More of HIM. Resolutions are a great way to make the world revolve around ME ME ME. I’m (trying) to come back to my world revolving around HIM. Thanks for the encouragement today!
That’s so correct. Just minutes ago I was thinking about how Jesus didn’t live His life according to schedules or goals or plans or To Do lists. Rather, He lived life according to rhythms that were dictated by His purpose and His ministry, free of baggage or distractions, always flexible and ready to go wherever God sent Him at a moment’s notice.
I’m trying to take my cues from Jesus and trade schedules for rhythms and trust Him to direct my paths instead of trying to forge my own way. I can’t seem to give up my To Do lists, though. 😉
Thanks for dropping by!
I managed to get my blog posts up about wisdom. Clutter, well, that’s another story. You should see my desk.
Oh girl, I hear you. The clutter struggle never ends. Getting those posts up is a pretty huge accomplishment though!