Tristan Avalon
01-01-2008, 07:34
This wasn't a fan fic, but it is my thoughts on the new year. Please comment as I didn't have this edited.
Resolutions
Aura. Faith. Habits. Lifestyles. Personalities. Priorities.
At one point, all need to be evaluated. There is always room for change, for betterment of self. For enlightenment.
Sometimes there has already been change. Things happen. Cir***stances dictate. Spur-of-the-moment decisions weigh heavier than first believed. Indulgence catches up with us. Promises broken long ago haunt us. Promises kept haunt us worse still. Sadly, hind-sight is always 20/20.
Then a dawn breaks. A new year. A new chance. A clean slate.
We make promises, often called Resolutions. Promises to live better, laugh harder, love longer. Promises to save more money. Promises of a healthier lifestyle. Promises to spend more time with the family, even if work must suffer a little. Promises to play that game of catch with that child. Promises to help that homeless man on the corner we round everyday. Promises to live life to the fullest, like each day is our last.
Sometimes even spiritual resolutions are made. Resolutions to pray more, read more, study more. Resolutions to go to church more than twice a year. Resolutions to find peace with man, even when we don't think we know how. Resolutions to tolerate that annoying coworker, no matter how bad you want to smack some sense into them. Resolutions to be more bold in your dealings with humanity, with your faith, even when it calls for sacrifice.
So many wonderful ideas. Such noble causes.
Yet always short-lived.
Old habits are hard – nigh impossible for some of us – to break. We begin to feel that the effort is no longer worth it. It is so much easier to go with the flow and let life follow it's course. Our clean slate has begun to fill again. A helpless feeling works it's way into our lifestyles. We do not recognize it from previous years of failure. We don't fight it. Why bother? Why care? Why fret? Nothing is going to change. Nothing is going to matter in the end anyway.
Then it happens. One year, this year, you find a small goal to keep. And you succeed. Wow. That was easy! You begin to think to yourself. But now you are bored. Time to go a little further. Again, you are victorious. A nightly story with you child becomes a tradition well kept. This blossoms into that weekend game of catch. Soon you are struggling to find time to work amongst the many things you have planned with your family. No one sees it coming. But everyone if pleasantly surprised.
Same spiritual principle. Morning devotions become a lifestyle – you just can't function correctly without it. Like missing that cup of coffee. Soon you find you do not have enough hours in your day to read and pray as you have learned you should. You start taking that one class a week at the local church. By mid March, you are a frequent member. By August, a teacher as well as a student. Boldness comes from exposure to that Hand that you have found yourself leaning on more and more.
The end of December is drawing nigh. So many choices. So many changes.
Evaluate yourself this year. Decide what you want to improve on. Start out small. Big changes will follow – unfolding in a domino effect that cannot be stopped once momentum is gained.
Be your better self.
Resolutions
Aura. Faith. Habits. Lifestyles. Personalities. Priorities.
At one point, all need to be evaluated. There is always room for change, for betterment of self. For enlightenment.
Sometimes there has already been change. Things happen. Cir***stances dictate. Spur-of-the-moment decisions weigh heavier than first believed. Indulgence catches up with us. Promises broken long ago haunt us. Promises kept haunt us worse still. Sadly, hind-sight is always 20/20.
Then a dawn breaks. A new year. A new chance. A clean slate.
We make promises, often called Resolutions. Promises to live better, laugh harder, love longer. Promises to save more money. Promises of a healthier lifestyle. Promises to spend more time with the family, even if work must suffer a little. Promises to play that game of catch with that child. Promises to help that homeless man on the corner we round everyday. Promises to live life to the fullest, like each day is our last.
Sometimes even spiritual resolutions are made. Resolutions to pray more, read more, study more. Resolutions to go to church more than twice a year. Resolutions to find peace with man, even when we don't think we know how. Resolutions to tolerate that annoying coworker, no matter how bad you want to smack some sense into them. Resolutions to be more bold in your dealings with humanity, with your faith, even when it calls for sacrifice.
So many wonderful ideas. Such noble causes.
Yet always short-lived.
Old habits are hard – nigh impossible for some of us – to break. We begin to feel that the effort is no longer worth it. It is so much easier to go with the flow and let life follow it's course. Our clean slate has begun to fill again. A helpless feeling works it's way into our lifestyles. We do not recognize it from previous years of failure. We don't fight it. Why bother? Why care? Why fret? Nothing is going to change. Nothing is going to matter in the end anyway.
Then it happens. One year, this year, you find a small goal to keep. And you succeed. Wow. That was easy! You begin to think to yourself. But now you are bored. Time to go a little further. Again, you are victorious. A nightly story with you child becomes a tradition well kept. This blossoms into that weekend game of catch. Soon you are struggling to find time to work amongst the many things you have planned with your family. No one sees it coming. But everyone if pleasantly surprised.
Same spiritual principle. Morning devotions become a lifestyle – you just can't function correctly without it. Like missing that cup of coffee. Soon you find you do not have enough hours in your day to read and pray as you have learned you should. You start taking that one class a week at the local church. By mid March, you are a frequent member. By August, a teacher as well as a student. Boldness comes from exposure to that Hand that you have found yourself leaning on more and more.
The end of December is drawing nigh. So many choices. So many changes.
Evaluate yourself this year. Decide what you want to improve on. Start out small. Big changes will follow – unfolding in a domino effect that cannot be stopped once momentum is gained.
Be your better self.