by Jean Grantham
Dear Lord,
Here it is another year. So far this year I’ve done well. I’m feeling pretty good. My arm is aching from patting myself on my own back. Why? Well…. “Check it out.” I haven’t lost my temper; I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, hateful, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m thankful and proud for that. But in just a few minutes, Lord, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on I’m probably going to need a LOT MORE HELP. Amen.
Resolutions have an incredibly short shelf life. Have you noticed? If you are over the age of two, you know this to be true. Another thing you know is that Resolutions are traditional. But so are self-deceptions and excuses. They become part of the traditional cycle.
According to one poll taken, only 2% of adults accomplish their New Year’s Resolution. The Problem? Declaring a resolution as the goal in and of itself is not enough. The real goal – the actual lifestyle change. This is called a “plan.” Without a plan, resolutions are like riding on a merry-go-round and expecting to get down the road. In reality, you are only traveling in a circle.
Recently I walked and wondered at the same time. While thinking on the New Year to come and resolutions time, I questioned. “How do I make up for some lost time, poor eating choices, lack of will power, self-disappointment, - and the list went on? My mind caused my feet to drag along and my heart to be heavy. After all, I told myself, “The founder, writer, and teacher of Hope Weight Loss Support Program is supposed to keep it together.” Well, - welcome to “Hu –manity.”
Then it happened. Just before a “pity well” swallowed me whole, an answer came, or was it a question? It came from the one, Faithful and True that John wrote about in Revelations. It was a certain, but inner question. “What did you do before? What was the Solution?”
I answered the question with the “Solution” I was given three years before – “Hope, Habits, Others, Plans, and Exercise.” Then the Lord said, “Then, just take the Solution and Re – Solution.”
In the moments that followed, clarity began to unfold to me. Resolutions are simply this: “Re- solution.” On many problems and occasions in our lives, we have already been given the solution. For a season, we walk in that enlightenment. Along the way, we must be reminded to “not be weary in well doing.” If we once ever knew the solution for control in any area of our life and lost it, then we must simply “Re – Solution.” Our need for control may be in “weight control, get organized, get out of debt, develop better relationships…etc.”
In this regard, we don’t just make New Year’s Resolutions. We walk in daily “Re – Solutions.” We don’t whine our way through life, we take control and “Re – Solution Our Way to Victory.”