Happy New Year!
However I do know there are those people who are not really excited about this year. They are not looking forward to anything really. They say, “This is just another year, so what?”
But there are also those who are not excited about this coming year simply because the year that has gone by was quite eventful. They had to experience a lot of bad things which has left them hurtful and are still grieving due to the pain that was caused.
I will never forget this. It was a couple of years ago when some of us guys were together and were just reminiscing the year that had gone by. Each of us was taking turns to share about some of the good things that had happened to us individually. It came finally to one friend who sat up and began to speak about how bad a year it had been for him and his family. They had to go abroad for his work purpose and there they were alone. The wife was carrying during the time. She went through an abortion and what was worse was that since they didn’t know anyone, there was no one around to support and encourage them through that crisis. The whole incident had left them devastated.
By far, I think the death of a loved one has to be the most painful experience anyone can ever go through. It causes wounds that will only go away over a period of time if one would allow the healing to take place.
All of us can fit into either one or two of these categories. Going into this New Year our attitudes could be of excitement, complacency or that of a defeated mindset.
Former US President John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
As we live out our lives every day, here’s what I know: change is inevitable. We can’t avoid it neither run away from it. If we were to look back maybe at the year that has gone by or even a few years back, we know for sure we were not the same people then. Something has changed: We’ve changed.
There is no denying that change is and will always be a part of our lives. We can either choose to accept it or try and push it away.
Change normally happens in either one of the two ways:
- Intentional Change:
When we identify an area we want to change in our lives, we figure out what we can try and do best to bring about that desired change. Say for example we want to lose weight; the first thing we would do is to get into some rhythm of exercise and in course change our diet. We become intentional about the change we want to see.
- Imposed Change:
Life has a way of throwing darts at us unexpectedly. There are situations or circumstances that crop up in life that forces us to change. It could be the death of a loved one, financial difficulties or even relationship breakups. We find ourselves in a place where we have no choice but to change.
Someone once said that change equals growth. The more we open and welcome change into our lives, the more we will grow and become the best we can ever be. We will never have to be stuck in a rut.
Author and Pastor Dan Reiland writes, “Life is a process of change, yet many of us have a false expectation that we'll one day "arrive" and never have to change again. That's true in a sense, but that arrival doesn't occur until we reach heaven. Here on earth, we need to stay open to adaptation and growth.”
I have always looked forward to a New Year. The reason being I believe a New Year helps us to reset and start from the beginning no matter what has gone by. I remember vividly whilst playing video games, if I wasn’t playing well, losing out or was stuck at a level then I would just go and reset or restart the game. It gave me a chance to play the level again and this time around, not only was I better prepared for the challenges ahead but also changed the way I played from before. I went in playing with a changed perspective. I remember getting through those levels with much better scores the second time around.
As we go forward into this New Year, whether or not we have established goals for ourselves, we should keep in mind that we will change regardless. The question is whether we want to be intentional about it or allow life to impose changes on us. The choice is ours to make.
Being intentional about change requires us to answer these two questions:
- What areas do we want to change in?
- What small steps can be taken now to see that change in time to come?
I think if we could answer these two questions and follow through with what needs to be done, we can see the changes that we desire to see. It could be in becoming better relationally or managing finances better or even the physical aspect like doing exercises.
For me personally there are two things I want to see changed in me by the end of this year. I am looking to build more self control in an area that I think I am addicted to. The second is in becoming healthier. I recently did a complete physical check up and the results were not up to the mark!
I am hoping that by the time you finish reading this, you would have already identified maybe one or two areas in your life that you want to be intentional to change this year. I just want to wish you all the best to seeing that change happen!
