Wednesday, January 7, 2015

A New Year, a New Start

This time of year certainly seems to bring out the hopeful in everyone. Many of us make New Year's Resolutions in hopes of making a significant change in our lives only to give up a portion of the way through the year. I've always tried to be realistic in my resolutions and as I reflected upon this past year, I decided that this year's resolution would be to live in the moment more. I tend to live in the future: "Next year will be better because...," next summer will be better because I'll have more time to quilt," "next Christmas will be better because I'll have a better job and more ability to buy gifts." 

I have been living so much in the future, that I've forgotten to live in the present. Yes, my life has not been what I'd hoped for lately, but everyone has those thoughts. Yes, there's not much in my present that I wanted to celebrate, but that attitude is not making me happy and I need to change my frame of mind. Last week, I'd caught myself pining over the life I used to have when it dawned on me that I hadn't actually had that life in several years and I needed to move on. I won't ever have what I used to have. I will always have a history of a failed marriage and some of the insecurities that go along with the reasons it ended. But that doesn't mean that I should settle for living in a time other than right now and what I can do right now. I can build upon what I currently have and make a better life for myself. Life is rarely how we plan it, but it doesn't have to be a marker of doom or gloom. We can celebrate in the mercies and blessings God has shown us and the strength He gives us every day to continue on.

This year, I will be focused on the here and now.