New Year's Resolution

Happy 2010! It's going to take me a bit to get used to writing 2010 on my papers instead of 2009, but I figure the same goes for most people.

So. It's that time of year when everyone makes "Resolutions" and sets goals to accomplish in the new year. Local gyms and vitamin shoppes must do well this time of year. Everyone has something they want to do or get done or stop doing in the next 365 day period.

When I was younger, my family had a New Year tradition. My brother and sister and I would all write down a number of resolutions/goals on a piece of paper, read it aloud to the family, copy it with the fax machine (the closest thing we had to a copier, yay fax paper), then burn one copy. I never really understood why we burned them, but we did it anyway. I don't remember much of what our resolutions are, or if we ever really kept to them, but it was nice to have a family tradition (even if I did scramble to come up with 10 goals at some point during the evening).

Nowadays, it seems like everyone's goals for the new year are somewhat cliche...there's the health related ones: lose weight, eat better, work out more, reduce or stop altogether the intake of alcohol/tobacco/other substances. There's the religious ones: go to church/religious services more, be more involved with a particular church/religious community, read x number of religious texts or books dealing with religious matters, read through the Bible/other sacred texts in a year. Academic ones are popular among students of all ages: Get better grades, get straight As, achieve a certain grade point average. Athletic and artistic goals are likely also common. To me, it seemed like everyone was doing the same thing, and half of them forgot all about it come February 1, if not sooner. So I said, why bother making a resolution? Why make one just to make one? Sure I want to eat better, take care of my body better, get better grades, read my Bible more, find a church in which to get involved, but I feel like a resolution should be something different.

Sunday morning I was sitting in church, and some of these thoughts were running through my head between songs during the worship hour. Then I had a thought. I caught sight of a shirt being worn by one of the guitarists on stage. His shirt had a logo on it from a youth ministry theme a few years back. The logo is simply one word: Liveworthy. Two words, a verb and an adverb, combined to make one command. As worship concluded and the guest speaker was introduced, I knew what my New Year's resolution was going to be. I sat down and wrote "Liveworthy" on the back of my hand. It was a reminder to myself [and a potential tattoo idea, we'll see, I tend to change my mind about what I want for a tattoo every few months], moreso than a resolution. A reminder that every day I wake up, go to work, go to class, go out with friends, my life should reflect who I claim to be. People should know there is something different about me. Not just becuase I go to church or go to a Christian fellowship group, but every action should reflect Christ in my life. It should be as natural and almost as obvious as acting like a female. I'm female, this is evident when people look at me, it comes out in how I act, talk, dress, carry myself, etc. So should be my faith. I claim that my faith is the all encompassing ring within which everything else in my life takes place, but it's all too easy for me to take it for granted and act just like any other person. Not even acting in ways contrary to my faith or morals, but just not actively acting in a way that does reflect who I am.

When I look back a year from now on how my life has gone, I want to be able to thank God that I was acting and living the vast majority of my life (ideally all, but I'm not perfect) in a way that causes others to pause and wonder, what is it about her that's different? Food for thought.

Peace y'all.

P.S. Common Sense Life Lesson for the week: Lock your car from the outside with your keys, not from the inside. This taken from a friend of mine who has locked her keys in her car 2x this past semester.