Confession: January is one of the hardest months for me to institute change in my life.
Part of the reason why, is a lifestyle choice. Well, kind of a lifestyle choice. Let me explain.
For almost fifteen years now, I have lived away from family. Then, I married someone who also moved away from where he grew up, This means that every Christmas, I travel. During the time of the year where I am most likely to eat foods I know weaken my body, and to fill my schedule limiting time for rest, I get on an airplane with a lot of people who probably have compromised immune systems too, and
I get sick.
Either while we are with family, or within a day or too of arriving home, I get sick. Some years it’s a stomach flu, but most of the time it is a terrible cold that decides to settle in my asthmatic lungs. This year, it settled in my throat, and I couldn’t talk for days. It was awesome.
But I share all of this today because I don’t think I am the only one who comes back to real life after the holidays feeling less than one hundred percent. Almost as if the previous year has spit what’s left of us out into the New Year. And then we’re all “New Year, New Me,” when nothing about us, or the things we wish were different about our lives, feels new.
Life is hard, even without trying to make us or our situations more like we wish they would be. And yet during the coldest, sickest (for me) month of the year, we’re told to start everything over. To begin again.
In some ways, it is an incredible grace. To have the chance to live this year a little better than the last. To, in a sense, receive a “do over.” Only when you begin the year exhausted, maybe sick, and possibly discouraged from the previous year, it’s hard not feel as if you’ve already failed. As others seem to begin the year strong with new routines, and you’re still struggling to get out of bed in the morning, it can be terribly depressing.
If this is where you are today, I want to remind you of the tortoise and the hare. As a kid you probably heard the story about the hare and the tortoise who ran the same race. At the beginning, the hare looked like he had the tortoise beat no problem, he ran so fast. Only, he ran too fast. He didn’t pace himself. And the slow but steady tortoise won the race.
For many of us, the answer to living better or making positive change in our life, isn’t found in being gung-ho right out of the gate, the first of January. Rather, it is found in taking the time to rest and restore from the busyness of December. Then thoughtfully planning out our year in a way that enables us to set doable goals and create sustainable change in our lives.
The slow but steady tortoise won the race.
It is for this reason, I created the Start Here: Dream Planner. Inside, there are questions I feel are crucial to ask when wanting to live a year of intention and even success. Each section is written to help you focus in on what is really important to you in this season of your life. And, there is even a section to encourage you and a friend or a significant other to go through your dream planners together—because who wants to do this journey alone? Also, we are always more successful together.
Oh, and I almost forgot, I am giving the Start Here: Dream Planner away for free! Click here to sign up. And ease into the New Year, knowing it’s not too late to make it a great one.
Preaching to the depressed choir over here. I’ve decided that whenever the cloud lifts, that’s my signal for the fresh start and things that other people do on January 1st! Who says my life has to follow a traditional calendar? That thought gives me hope. Not to mention God’s timing is perfect….. All of this is my attempt to battle discouragement when I see people tackling goals and resolutions in the new year and I feel lazy and falling behind!
Oh I hope you will be encouraged! Everyone is on a different timeline and in different life season–no matter what time of the year it is. Just focus on your next right step for today, you will get there.
So good to remember that rest is part of the way we get refreshed to start new! I gave myself a vacation from a lot of responsibilities over the holidays and now already feel over-committed and overwhelmed. Time to start prioritizing and setting realistic expectations!
I’ve been sick all week! And snowed in a bit. Every year about this time it hits me. Thank you for this encouragement. Sometimes its hard to get going after you’ve been knocked down.
So true, Amy! Hope you return to full health soon, and begin to feel yourself gaining traction where you need/want to.