2014 - A fresh start

I am writing this (or rather typing) at the first minute of the new year. In my pjs. No hardy partying for this girl. I feel so old.

So about this time, I usually come up with 5 resolutions for the year. Some are easier to keep than others.
I know some people don't like to make them, because there is no follow through most of the time. I think you need a plan of action to go with your resolutions, or it just won't work.

I have so many things I want to improve on. Exercise more, spend less, volunteer my time, read more, grade those dreaded stacks of papers! But I'm afraid I won't follow through.

So this year I won't make a list of resolutions. Instead, I want to focus on how I do things. How I will live this year. I saw a challenge on Instagram where you come up with one little word (#olw) that will define the year. There were so many to choose from: engage, simplify, love, give, create.
After some thought, I chose:

Become. A verb that means, "begin to be." Grow to be or turn into.
Synonyms: grow, come to be, change into, be transformed into, [be] more

I was listening to a sermon a while back from Alistair Begg (great pastor by the way) and it was about our standing with God. Something he said really caught my attention. He said, "Become what you are."
Not who people want you to be, or who you think you should be, but who you were created to be.

He said:

"It's not impossible to mess up, it's just incongruous. Tomorrow's a new day, a fresh start. 

Life is a journey with a series of new beginnings." 

So this is my fresh start. I want to strive every day. Even if one day I yell in my road rage at a terrible driver. Or spend the afternoon napping instead of grading. Or eating yet another handful of salt & vinegar chips. I don't want to give up when I mess up. I hope to take more opportunities this year and enjoy the little things.

I am excited about 2014. :)