Whew! Made it through another holiday and I’m still here. No more sappy Santa or snow songs at Starbucks. No more pressure to buy, buy, buy. Two peaceful family gatherings and a peaceful neighborhood this morning. Today, nothing more dangerous than heading to the theater to finally see Rogue One. All that’s left is the year’s weirdest week…and next year’s resolutions.
I usually ignore the New Year’s Resolution tradition because it seems everyone else observes it, and I prefer going against the grain. Yesterday, however, my younger daughter spoke about hers and it made me wonder if it isn’t time for me to do the same, especially since I’ve been sharing with my son the importance of having goals, both long-term and short.
So now I sit at Starbucks pondering my future. Do I have any goals? Well, yeah, I think everyone does. I’d like to find an agent, I’d like to perform well at our big swim meet in April, I’d like to see my son graduate high school. Three good, valid goals I’d like to see happen in 2017. However, I’ve realized these are goals already in place, not new.
The more I think about it, the more one of my favorite Bible verses comes to mind: “God has told you, O man, what is good and what he requires of you: to do justice, to love kindness (or mercy), and to walk humbly with your God.”(Micah 6:8)
Good noble goals, don’t you think? I do love justice, but do I practice justice? How can I live this out? Justice (as opposed to vengeance) is popular to talk about in America, but I know enough of the Bible to understand that this is about justice for the poor, the weak, and the defenseless. Who can I stand up for? At this point, I’m not sure, so I’ll have to start researching if this resolution is to become reality.
I definitely love kindness and mercy, especially when it’s extended to me, but I need to work on extending it to others, most notably with those I don’t like. And walking humbly? Ouch. Far too often I make my life all about me, not just from the way I act, but the way I love to talk about myself rather than listening to others.
All three of these goals, if I really want to pursue them as resolutions, will require changes in me that will be difficult to achieve. Isn’t that the point of New Year’s Resolutions, however? To seek to better one’s self and, hopefully, make a small change for the better in the lives of others? Damn, but that sounds noble. LOL! I guess 2017 will show if I have any nobility in me.
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