Hey everyone!
For many it will be the first full week back just completed and I know for me it's been one where I've decided to press into the new year with a desire to head in a new direction otherwise I'll continue going in the way that I'm going.
People talk of new year's resolutions at this time of year and, I must admit, I'm not one for them but instead prefer to reframe that idea as a goal setting exercise where I ask myself one question.
At the end of the year, what do I want to have achieved so I can look back on the year and say 'yes, this was a good year'?
New Year, New Me?
As we all know by now, my journey to one hundred episodes of Off the Scale has gone through an extended break and an elongated timeline, but I'm still committed to seeing it through.
We are only nineteen away from the target and I hope to knock that out this year.
To get that to happen, though, a lot of things have to fall into place in sequence. That's my aim though.
There have been a lot of changes I have been making thus far this year, all in a bid to rid myself of unwanted distractions from what really matters; running the race marked out before me:-
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 (ESV)
For me, this "run with endurance" has been about stepping aside from the things that I was doing last year that were adding weight to my walk and instead learning to run streamlined so I'm not wasting my time on frivolous and fruitless pursuits that cost time but give nothing in return.
It became clear, over Christmas, that it was time to step back to my time away from borrowing library books that I would normally pick up for my down time in my schedule. When it became time for me to rest from activity, I would pick up a book, put some music on, and just read. Just. Read.
It's one of my favourite activities I like to do.
But in the autumn I stopped borrowing books, again, and found that the down time was, arguably, more enjoyable because I wasn't putting so many words in my head and was free to just vibe; to just... just be. The ideas started to form and goals started to coalesce and I knew I was onto something here because I could just lay there, on my bed, and just... think. Or just let my thoughts flow freely.
They began to roam.
It was here I learnt to accept what a tendency old me has of letting thoughts flow down a negative pathway without conscious effort. So I started to change the way I consumed my media products moving into the new year. No longer was it just about me doing what I wanted when I wanted; now it was about doing it with purpose on purpose.
Now that the media had stopped flowing in I found myself better able to see how I was being hacked by the programmes I was watching and music I was listening to. I've already left behind some stuff that I just have no desire to consume anymore and instead have been heading in a new direction that I know my future self will be thankful for.
That's where the power started gaining traction as I realised that if I make a decision today then my future self will reach a moment where he says "thank you past 'me' for that!" and reaps the benefits as a result.
Looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)
There's my blueprint right there, I realised. Jesus was willing to go through what He went through because He was looking to the glory up ahead. He knew that on the other side of a great battle within would be an even greater glory revealed without.
Final Thought
Getting where I'm going is going to take a battle because old habits won't give up easily; they don't say "old habits die hard" for no reason. But I'm convinced if I stick at it change will become the norm for my life so I might as well be comfortable with it. All so my future self can look back on moments like this and express gratitude for my past self making decision-based sacrifices in life to get me where I want to go. For me, life is all about following what I call The A,B,C Principle:-
A lways
B e
C hanging
Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for me so, if anything, He has shown me that you can't get where you're going without sacrifice, sometimes bucket loads of it. I'll never be able to balance the scales for what He did for me, but luckily I don't have to because I am right in His sight just as I am.
But I can always become a better person, if I take aim at the "me" He had in mind when He went to the cross, for my change plan. Change into that version of myself instead of stay who I am today. Jesus died for the best version of me as well as the worst but there's no reason I have to stay the same when there's someone better on the way; a better "me"!
Until next time!
===TLP===
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