Coming into a new year is an opportunity to reflect on how life through the year has been thus far, and even a good time to reflect on past years throughout your life. It’s also a good time to see whether some of what has happened should change or should stay the same. While you certainly don’t have to reflect or make resolutions, I find that it is good to at least consider those things a little bit.
Reflection and resolution don’t always mean what we think they mean, or at least not the way we frequently act about them. While reflection means considering and looking, as if in a mirror, to see yourself and your situation with some different perspective to help you do better, sometimes we think of reflection as a nice way to look back on the good old days without using it to improve on the good old days and even what we have in our present days. While making making a resolution means you resolve to do and be better, that you are resolute about doing and being better, sometimes we think of resolutions as a bunch of things we’d like to do, but aren’t really that serious about doing if we’re honest with ourselves.
Looking back on what has happened thus far and deciding to resolve problems going forward can be difficult. Sometimes we don’t reflect because we’d rather not revisit pain and re-open wounds. It’s okay to avoid hurting yourself, just remember not to ignore your wounds and remember that there are good things to look back on despite the painful things. Sometimes we don’t make resolutions because we feel like we’ll never keep them. It’s okay to know you won’t keep a certain resolution, just don’t use that as an excuse to not even try improving anything at all.
As difficult as reflection and resolution can be, they can be even more pleasant and rewarding. Reflection gives us the opportunity to see things with a fresh perspective, enabling us to see good in things that we couldn’t see while we were walking through them. Resolution gives us the opportunity to change what is wrong and improve on what is right, enabling us to be much healthier and more balanced.
Reflection and resolution do not have to be complicated, draining, or grandiose; they can be simple, small, and quiet. In reflection we can see the good hand of God much better in our lives. In resolution we can have God’s help to set and reach good goals as we move forward.
Related:
New Year Coming
Learned Over the Year
Shepherd on the Mountain and in the Valley
Perspective Higher Than Mountains