I recently saw a Facebook post announcing this year as 2020-too. I chuckled, and then my heart sank a bit. How disheartening. Both 2020 and 2021 were so discouraging, I just can't imagine a second go around of either. But then, I began to contemplate how God has grown me -- beyond my own ability -- through these last few difficult years. So, I prefer to view 2022 as a new dawn of opportunity.
New Years is a time of reflection and resolution - a time of new beginnings. But really, it's 365 new beginnings. Each day is a chance to reflect on the last day, and make those necessary change to improve the next. Was I as kind as I ought to be? Were there some sharp edges that could have been softened? Was I a generous giver? Did I see and acknowlege those invisible people around me? Could I be more ducky, and let some of those negatively charged raindrops roll off my back?
It's far easier, and more efficient to make those small degree changes each day, than it is to try to make big changes starting on the first day of the year. Truly, one manageable degree every day gets you much further than a couple of huge, but failed attempts at change.
Over the past few months, some good, but peripheral diversions have distracted me from my work. My goal, this year, this week, this day, is to focus on spending some quality time in reflection and writing. I'm looking for a few good stories to share with the world. They're out there, I know they are. I need to take the time to spend with people and hear them.
I also want to be cognizant in celebrating the wonders and possibilities of each dawn as well as treasuring truth of each day as it fades. To rejoice in each success, to be content with the seemingly unspectacular, to mourn losses and disappointments, and embrace challenges. This is, after all, how we grow.
May I encourage you too, to reflect on each day. Write a journal, scribble your prayer-requests-made-and-then-answered onto a recipe card, make a To-Do list of 365 things and check one off each day, take a daily photo and store it in a special "Today" folder on your phone. Find a way to recognize and memorialize each day.
Each day is a gift.
Please share with me how you are memorializing the dawn and fading of each day with joy.
