Welcome to 2013! I know I’m a little late on the happy New Year greeting, but I’ve been enjoying some time off. I’m going to keep this short and reiterate what I said last year. Do not make “praying more” or “becoming more spiritual” your new year’s resolution! Making something a resolution is the surest way you will abandon it by February.
As I said in last year’s new year’s article:
I think many New Year’s resolutions fail because they have no roots in your life. A New Year’s resolution is like a thin layer of top soil that blows away with the slightest disturbance. For example, your effort to exercise derails the first time you skip the gym. Or your effort to lose weight flies out the window at the first social gathering. The problem often lies in that we are still fundamentally the same person, with the same flaws and weaknesses, on 1/1 as we were on 12/31. Our lives are not like nutrient-rich soil for our resolutions to take root and fundamentally transform who we are.
So instead of a new year’s resolution, make a “new you” resolution; one you will keep for the rest of your life. Make yourself into the “nutrient-rich” soil so that whatever you set you mind to, whether it be more prayer, losing weight, or giving up some vice, will actually become obtainable and sustaining. Where do you start? How about with the Sacrament of Confession? I can’t think of a better way to start the year than wiping the slate clean and living in God’s grace. Confession is a way to clear away those “weeds” in your life that choke and prevent goodness from taking root and springing up. Remove the weeds and a better you will grow. Not removing the weeds of sin will only make improving your life that much more difficult.
The ball is in your court. Will you ditch the new year’s resolution and take up a “new you” challenge in 2013?
