The new year is here and already rolling along. Everyone had plans of eating better, losing weight, exercising more, spending less time on screens, reading more, being present, and all the other super responsible things that sound like a great idea. How’s all that going? Are you still sticking to your resolutions three weeks in? A surprising amount of people have already given up at this point.
It’s amazing to me how hard it can be to change ourselves. It’s also amazing how much importance we give to these kinds of details about ourselves and not others. We really work hard to transform our appearance (and health, I know. It is important. I’m not saying it’s not.)
But how much effort do we put into transforming out spiritual health? How often do we have a resolution to be more forgiving? More patient? More loving? I’m sure some of us do, and that’s awesome.
But let me ask you another question. How often do we apply those things to ourselves? When we fall off the healthy-food wagon by mid-January, do we say, “that’s ok. You’ll get it figured out. Keep trying?” Or, do we beat ourselves up and think we can’t do it? Do we think to ourselves what a horrible parent we are for zoning out on our screens when we said we wouldn’t? Or do we just put it down and get right back on track?
My point in all of this is to say that whether it’s a resolution or not, we teach our children every day. We teach them not what we say, but what we do. And if we want to teach our children to be kind and forgiving, it starts with us. And it starts with how we treat ourselves. And it starts with making a point to give ourselves a break and show them it’s ok to mess up, start over, and do better.
So, this new year, I’m working towards a new me. Everyday.