Tuesday 11 January 2011

A time to make New Year Resolutions 1

“Tis the season to be jolly” is over for most of us around the world who celebrate Christmas and go by the Georgian calendar. Now is the season to be sober, to reflect and make resolutions, lol! For those still in the “New Year resolution mood,” this post is for you.

So last year, I said I wouldn’t make any resolutions. I didn’t and kept on with this life of mine. And then, mid-year 2010, I received an e-newsletter from a life-coach that I subscribe to asking how far I was getting along in my plans and resolutions for the year. I looked back over the previous 6-7 months and I saw that I wasn’t consciously pursuing any personal goals or spiritual goals thus I had nothing to show for it. It seemed that I was only helping to pursue other people’s goals, mostly work related and church related. I hit a state of panic... What about my personal growth? There seems to be neither significant change nor any indication of gradual progress in any specific area of my life! I’ve not really been working at anything! What a Bummer!

Lessons learnt:

1. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Duh!

2. You reap what you sow. The sober warning is that I cannot escape this truth, otherwise I will only be living in deception if I think so. Galatians 5: 7-9

3. If you don’t plant anything, what do you expect to harvest? Nada! At best, wind! Selah.

And since I hadn’t planned to sow much, there was little harvest in my life. To everyone else, it appeared life was going on smoothly but I knew that inner growth was lacking.

So since the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011, I have really been thinking about resolutions, goals and planning for the year. Not just these but actually acting on what I plan to do. There is a difference between planning and carrying out plans, you know. I’m recruiting an accountability partner to keep me in check in this area. I’ve been prayerfully skimming the Bible, e-articles and the like for ideas and motivation, for me.

It’s not so much the concept of ‘setting goals’ and ‘achieving goals’ so that I’ll have something to show for at the end of 2011. The point is to:

1. Lay these plans before God so that He directs my path. There have been times in the past that God has had to re-direct me to do something else or to simply wait, (Proverbs 3: 5-6 and Psalm 37: 5-7) This should be both a seasonal and daily activity of laying my plans before Him, who knows all things and controls everything.

2. So that I live a productive and fruitful life for Him.

You might want to consider these questions, “Why are you setting goals for the year, that is, if you are? Are you setting goals because ‘everybody is doing it’ or there is a stronger motivation for it? Who are you living for as you plan and make schedules? Or are you making goals to impress people?”

Selah.

Wrestling with these questions too,
Lady Akofa.

To be continued....

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