I Resolve to Evolve

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2014. Now is the time to take a second to reflect over the past year and create a road map for the future. But rather than create an empty task oriented list of resolutions that I will be sure to abandon by February, I have decided to take a different approach.

Don’t get me wrong. I do believe in self evaluation and goals. However, as we all know, hardly anything in life goes as planned so as these goals are applied to my life, I want to cast a larger net and allow for a little wiggle room. So here we go…

Start Over? No thanks.

The biggest theme during the New Year is the idea of a fresh start, a new beginning. Honestly, the idea of starting over seems extremely exhausting. I’ve had the ups and downs and made some mistakes along the way, but those life experiences have helped shape the person I am today. We are constantly evolving into someone new. Knowing that there is a part of me that God reserved as simply my own, I also know that with each life experience we change. Even in the past year I have come to notice changes in my personality and world view. And that’s OK! My memories will always be there, however, I never want to hinder the person I am to become simply because I refuse to let go of who I was.

With that said, 2014 is sure to be an exciting year. While 2013 came with its share of changes and adjustments, I am the happiest I have been in a very long time with A LOT of life experiences ahead of me. That is exciting. There are a lot of things I hope for this year, I choose to focus on things that are actually in my realm of control.

Be Content with My Own Life Pace

I have always been the type to go at my own pace. And that pace tends to be slightly behind the rest of my eager generation (as you can tell with my clearly late to the party NY Day post).

I am happy with my choices, yet I have always felt the pressure to move at a faster pace. Every accomplishment or life change comes requires answers as to what you will be doing next and when,  giving me the feeling that I am lacking in some form or fashion to complete my life by the proper deadline.

I am not looking to complete my life just yet, I want to enjoy it. So rather than accept the pressure to move faster, this year I will choose to be content with slow and steady pace of my life course. In this case, I do not want to be the first to finish the race.

Focus on the Fruits

In Galatians, Paul speaks of the fruits of the spirit. For those of you that didn’t spend your adolescent years learning cheesy Bible songs, they go as followed: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  The more I study these words and their meanings, the more I understand the importance of incorporating each into my daily life.

While some of them are vices (patience being a big one) I want to make a conscious effort to genuinely offer to others my love, bring them joy, be fully at peace, learn patience, respond with kindness and goodness, have a gentle approach and self control over my mind, body and spirit. I honestly believe that those that walk in these traits daily live the happiest and most fulfilling lives. It’s all about perspective, people.

Leave Room for Error

Anyone that really knows me will tell you that I am usually harder on myself than anyone else could ever be.  I have a tendency to create goals that are slightly overreaching or completely unattainable and then beat myself up for lacking completion. I also have a love/hate relationship with both procrastination and perfectionism. As you can imagine, this tends to add a little frustration to my life from time to time. Throw all these traits in a blender and there’s not much room for error (of course because I waited til the last minute).

Life is full of uncontrollables and there’s no such thing as perfect. Therefore, to compensate I will leave more room for error this year. I will learn to take a breath, let go of the reins a little and allow life to take me on my intended journey with less insistence that we do things my way.  Mind over matter is the focus. If I can do this then I think I’ll be more productive and less stressed all at the same time, which is a foreign concept to me now. 

So there you have it, my road map for 2014 (If you made it to the end of my continuous ramblings than you deserve a medal).  I am happy with who I am today, but excited to see how this year will shape me for the future. We are constantly growing, constantly learning, constantly evolving into the truest version of ourselves. And I can’t wait to see what’s next.