Goal Achieving Year

Dear Readers,

My apologies for several weeks flying by without my writing a single word. I confess to you that it was simply because I have an uncertainty in my heart toward the Christmas season so I didn't know what to say. I want to write in my blog what I know, and this is an area of my life that I am still working out. One thing I can say about the past few weeks in assurance is how grateful I am that I had the opportunity to celebrate Chanukah this year and have a deep appreciation for its meaning and importance to my faith as a disciple of Christ. It was good enough for Jesus to celebrate, so there for it is more than good enough for me to make a part of my life. I don't know that there is any wrong or right answer when it comes to holidays, but I do know that I am truly excited to make holiday traditions surrounding Chanukah for years to come.

However, that season is over, and now we are in a new season. A season of reflection and renewal. A season when each person can look at their life, throw out the bad, and make something new and good. There is no rhyme or reason why this couldn't be done any other time of the year, but there is just something so satisfying about getting a new start at the beginning of each year. We create goals and resolutions. If we are determined and want it enough those goals and resolutions can and will be realized. It's a time of hope for all people of all generations. Some people choose to take this time of year lightly and make resolutions that never really have then intention of keeping. Some people make resolutions they are set on achieving, but don't quite make it through the year. Others are determined and focused. They are challenged, yet persist.

Which one am I? I'm usually some where between the first two. I either don't care enough or I set my expectations to high, lose focus, and it falls apart somewhere between April and July. So this year I've decided to approach things a little differently. This year one of my goals is to become that third person. Yes....I'm making achieving my goals whole heartedly my absolute number one goal. I know it's a long shot, but as they say insanity is doing the same thing over again expecting the same result. I want to become the type of person that achieves goals before I actually go trying to get somewhere. Disciplined, focused, determined, and uh...goal oriented. I have a lot of other goals I'd like to set, and I need those goals to be able to measure the outcome of the first. We'll see where this year takes.

With love,

Mandy

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3: 13-14