Are you planning on making a New Year's Resolution (or aim at a particularly specific goal) this year?
Please don’t get caught up on the word “resolution.”: We do not mean a vow or promise, and we are not “trusting in the flesh” by using the term. Think, instead, of a specific practice, habit, or goal you are going to aim toward.
Unfortunately, these polls are not set up for more than one answer, so, if you can, make the choice that will get a special emphasis this year.
You might want to do all the below “Yes” options (hopefully, we all do). But which will become either a new thrust or something that will take extra effort?
Poll Results
Are you planning on making a New Year’s Resolution (or aim at a particularly specific goal) this year?
# 1 Yes, to take better care of my health (diet, exercise, etc.). Votes: 2
# 10 To get organized. Votes: 0
#11 To be more patient/kind/godly (or nurture Fruit of the Spirit). Votes: 0
#12 To seek to evangelize more proactively. Votes: 0
#13 No, I am either not making a resolution this year or don’t make them in general. Votes: 11
Other. Votes: 3
#2 To read through the Bible (or specific portions of the Bible) this year. Votes: 0
#3 To bring better balance to my life (work vs. leisure, family vs. church, etc.) Votes: 1
# 4 To spend more time in prayer and/or contemplation. Votes: 1
#5 To get up earlier. Votes: 0
#6 To change the amount of time I spend on social media or viewing. Votes: 1
#7 To have more fun. Votes: 0
# 8 To reinvigorate my marriage or relationships to family/friends. Votes: 0
# 9 To stop procrastinating. Votes: 0
- 2 views
I usually don’t make them but just to have a date for a point of reference, I am making some cycling specific goals for the year and planning on doing some book research. I will probably stick with my Bible reading method that I used last year.
There more like goals, really, but I don’t mind calling them resolutions.
And so far, they’re not quite goals yet either. More like “intentions.”
- Read more nonfiction
- Lose a bit more weight
- More in-person conversations with interesting people
- More ritual
That last one may sound a bit weird (or at least not very Baptist), but I’ve got a theory about what humans really need to achieve genuine “devotion” on a daily basis… or at least what this human does. It’ll be an experiment. I’ll probably write about it.
One more…
- More music
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Be interesting to hear about your experiment with ritual. I tend to think that proper ritual in moderation can add some good structure.
I am a pretty weird guy, and don’t normally make resolutions, but two years ago, much to my wife’s dismay, I made the resolution to watch more TV. We had been watching only one hour per week (Lawrence Welk — I told you I am weird) and so I have upped to about an average of 1/2 hour a day, some days an hour or more, some none (I read news but don’t normally watch it), but other days zilch. Strange resolution.
My wife was brought up in a family where her parents (esp. dad) watched TV all evening. She was afraid I would go to the extreme! She has adjusted.
"The Midrash Detective"
Aaron, don’t know if you would find this along the lines of what you are trying or not, but I have written a prayer for every day of the year, my own kind of ritual thing.
I thought about private messaging you, but then I thought some other SI participants might be interested in checking them out:
"The Midrash Detective"
Since I fail at my resolutions, I’m resolving to gain some weight and acquire a couple of bad habits.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
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