New Year, New Me

It’s that time of year again and like so many other years, millions of people will be making those “New Year Resolutions.” You know what I mean, and just like me, we say that “It’s a new year, I’m going to start fresh and this year I will ….” What follows is a host of things we know or want our life to be; from losing that extra weight, improving our health by exercising more and eating better, quit smoking, getting out of debt, save more, improve our education, take a trip, volunteer more and a host of other things; improving something that we feel we need to do to make us better.

According to Wikipedia, “Recent research shows that while 52% of participants in a resolution study were confident of success with their goals, only 12% actually achieved their goals. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set, such as, a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.” There are other reports with different numbers, but they are all relatively close to each other.
So there you have it, we have good intentions. However, the numbers show that we’re not too successful in accomplishing our goals that we feel will improve our life, even when I doctor encourages us to “Don’t quit trying.”

There is also a theory that all this goal setting is related to our happiness. Happy people don’t feel they need New Year’s Resolutions; therefore the majority of people (40-45% American adults) that set these annual goals may be unhappy people and they feel that by changing their lifestyle with these new goals, they will become happy and live happily ever after. (I did mention that this was a theory – and it’s not mine)

For me, I’ve found one thing that did improve my lifestyle, and it is turning your life over to God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; and I didn’t have to wait until January 1st. To start, all you have to do is acknowledge “God, I can’t be the person I want to be. I surrender my life to you; show me what you want me to be.” After that, to know His will for your life you have to know about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And how will you know what Jesus would do if you don’t know what Jesus did? You need to read your Bible. Start with the book of John, then Matthew, Mark and Luke. That’s a resolution that you can start now. There is no waiting line or “Please hold” to talk to God.

What’s new for your life this year?
~ God Loves You and So Do I
Rocky Starland