Is this the year?
Is now the time?
Are you ready for something new? Different?
Have you been stuck in a rut or routine that has not brought about the kind of joy or peace or growth that you might hope for your life?
If so, then I would say “YES!“, now is indeed the time for you to make a change.
But how? Where does one start?
Truthfully, it as simple as identifying something in your life that isn’t working for you, or something that could be better, or something you’ve always wanted to do or explore or work on – and then deciding to do something about it. Deciding that now is the time. There’s no more putting it off until later, or waiting for a better time, or thinking that you’ve got to get the rest of your life in order first.
No. NOW is the time. And no one can make this decision for you. YOU must be ready and willing to commit to it.
So here’s my suggestion for getting you started… try streaking!
No… no. Not that kind of streaking.
As a new year begins, there are many of us who have made resolutions – resolutions to make change, of some kind, in our lives. But statistics show that most of us won’t hold to those resolutions beyond the two week marker.
Why is that?
Well, likely it’s because we haven’t yet begun to see significant change. We struggle to see the fruit of our labor, and so we start to believe that all the effort really isn’t worth it. We don’t see change, so we struggle to believe that it will actually ever occur. And whether we realize it or not, we begin to look for a way out. Or we allow ourselves to fall back into some old (and easy) patterns and habits that, if memory serves, weren’t producing anything positive or helpful in the first place.
So, we end up quitting before any kind of noticeable change can take place in our life.
Back to streaking. By streaking I mean creating a “streak.” Trying to get as many days in a row where we do (or don’t do – if we’re trying to break an old habit) the work necessary for change to happen.
Research tells us that it takes 21 days to break a habit – or to form a new one.
21 days.
3 weeks.
To some of us that might sound daunting. To others of us, three weeks might not seem like much time at all.
But when you consider that 3 weeks, or 21 days, has the potential to quite literally change your life – doesn’t that suddenly seem like a very small amount of time over which to invest in, or abstain from, something in order to potentially change your life forever???
Now, it’s important to remember that we can never know for sure what the “end product” will be, right?
If we believe that God is at work in the world, and in us as well, then our efforts only make up a portion of this change equation.
No matter how simple, or seemingly complex, the scenario we find ourselves working for change is… we must always leave room for God to work and remain flexible to what the outcomes or end product might be.
So, if you’ve already pinpointed something that needs to change in your life, you can trust that God’s Spirit has probably been preparing your heart and your mind for what the days ahead will require of you.
Trust Him.
Lean into Him.
Don’t be afraid of the work that will be required of you – and trust God to do the work that only He can do in you.
Change is an important part of life.
And we have the power to work with God to create change – within us and the world around us – or to work against the process.
The choice is yours – and mine – to make.
What will you choose?
