Welcome to the future! It’s here, and it waits on no one. I hope you’ve made plans to enter this decade differently, to use what you’ve learned, to be smarter, wiser, and more focused on what matters.
To help me focus into the New Year and decade, to help me target my energy (which is a limited resource), I’ve made these seven resolutions and I offer them to you.
- I resolve to talk less and listen more. Is it a coincidence God gave us two ears and one mouth? We are told in the sacred Scriptures to be quick to listen and slow to speak. Most of the things that have gotten me into trouble in my life have been speaking way too much, particularly when I should have been listening.
- I resolve to fear less and live more. I am going to cut out the phrase, “I’m afraid.” I’m going to speak positive, faith-inspiring words in my life. I’m not going to give into self-doubt and worry when I know I’m going to operate on the method of the philosophy that I’m going to go until I get a “no.”
- I resolve to consume less and create more. Created in the image of God who is the Creator, I am put on this planet to make something of the world as I find it. And in doing so, I honor the God who created me and I advance the good.
- I resolve to complain less and thank more. Gratitude is the key to generosity, and generosity is the key to abundance. I’m going to focus on the good things. I will not become a cynic, and I will not take my blessings for granted.
- I resolve to worry less and wait more. By that I mean I am going to wait and see how things develop instead of jumping to conclusions and overreacting. Your first response is almost always the wrong one because it’s laden with emotion.
- I resolve to tolerate less and ask for more. I’m going to tolerate less of life the way it is, rather than the way it ought to be. I’m going to ask God for more faith, for more of the ability to take action, to take control of my life, to understand the things that I do that only I can control, and the things only God can control; and to celebrate and enjoy the difference.
- I resolve to expect less for me and expect more from me. I’m going to demand more of myself and less of others. I understand it is the mature person who says and does the next right thing. I’m going to be that person.
As we are now into new territory, I ask you to join me in leaving behind things that are over and done with: old hurts, betrayals, bitterness, regrets, old self-doubts; and to embrace the new world: a world of resolve, joy, generosity, and great adventure.