As I set on this New Years Eve Day, last day of 2019, last day of a decade, my thoughts are on 2020. My thoughts are those of hope! My thoughts are those of expectancy for a new year and a new decade. Anybody else with me? We’re all guilty when we’ve had a particularly hard year of really hoping and praying for a better year. We’re all guilty of being anxious and looking for better days! We’re all guilty of setting all of these New Years resolution! Do you know on average how long a resolution lasts before we no longer do it? 12 days! TWELVE DAYS! So statistically, we will be excited and pumped up for 12 days! That’s sad! The gyms will be full, the grocery carts full of fruits and veggies and healthy food, people will be buying planners and schedulers and sitting down to plan out their year to make it different. So why does it only take 12 days before those resolutions are broke? I think in part it’s our lack of planning, it’s our lack of really desperately wanting change bad enough to do things differently, but I think a big part is our minds and how we think!
If you follow my blogs, you know I don’t sugarcoat my feelings or what I’m going through. You know I don’t try to paint a pretty picture when my life isn’t a pretty picture! That being said, I think 2019 might have been one of the worst years of my entire adult life! But, was it really? Yes, I dealt with and am continuing to deal with issues with my father. Yes, I have dealt with trying to get my parents house sold. Yes, I have dealt with a step daughter who no longer lives with us. Yes, I have dealt with my husband hurting, which is flowing into every aspect of his life. Yes, arguments and disagreements in my marriage that have never been here. Yes, work was stressful. Yes, relationships have strained. Yes, I have gained some weight back that I worked so very hard to get off. Yes, my muscles don’t look like they did when I was spending 7 days a week in the gym. Yes, my relationship with God hasn’t been what it once was. Yes, I don’t sleep at night under all the stress, and I wake up heavy. Does any of that sound familiar? Do you ever just feel like you’re being attacked by every angle and wonder is it ever going to end? That’s how I have felt all year. But can I tell you that my thinking has been all messed up, and I have somewhat had a victim mentality too. I have lost hope some days and lost site of the big picture.
So stay with me for just a minute because I’ve jumped from resolutions to a bad year and you’re probably wondering where is she going with this. I said all of that to say that in this new year that we’re about to embark on, I will not be setting one New Years Resolution. I will be setting goals. I will be setting attainable goals, but I have one big goal and that goal isn’t going to go away in 12 days because I plan to put the work in! I plan to work on it every single day, even when I am feeling attacked! My goal is to work on changing my thinking! Has this year been hard? Absolutely it has, but I have so very much to be thankful for as well! Sitting around feeling sorry for myself does nothing for my future! Sitting around and not trying to maybe see the lesson in these things going on does nothing to my mental stability. Somewhere in all of this is a lesson. Somewhere in all of this is an opportunity for growth within me! I’m in no way saying you can justify every bad thing that happens in life, but in the grand scheme of things, the things I have to be thankful for far outweigh the bad things that have kept me down in 2019!
You see, the things of this world are fleeting. They go away, but our health, our relationships with God and people, those are forever. That legacy that we leave, that is forever. The people that we help, that is forever. I read a scripture this morning that really hit home this thought. It’s found in Philippines 4 and it says “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” Changing your mind and how you think and see things can absolutely change your life! Negative thoughts will never produce a positive life! Negative thoughts can literally destroy you from the inside out! What if in 2020 you choose to think on good things. What if in 2020 you determine to live a more positive life? What things do you think can happen? You can grow! You can get healthy, mentally and physically! You can educate yourself and be more than you ever dreamed possible! Don’t you deserve that just like the next guy or gal? Spend more time in prayer, reading, meditating, helping others, taking care of your mind, soul and body and lets see just what changes can happen for us all in 2020. It’s like the image above, the comeback is always stronger than the setback! What will you decide to do?
With love for you all,
Shauna
Shauna's Sisters 