ONE OF THESE DAYS…

one of these daysRepost from January 2011

If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say something like, “You know one of these days I’m gonna…” I’d have a lot of nickels… Finish that sentence just about any way you can think of and we’ve all probably heard it more times any of us could recall.

I’ve found that people that talk about change excessively rarely earnestly attempt it.

That’s why New Years resolutions never made a lot of sense to me. If I feel a need for change I’m not going to wait for a new year to get started on it. If it’s important enough to warrant a change it shouldn’t wait until a certain date unless there is a binding contract or agreement involved.

I remember decades back when my dad quit smoking. He didn’t make a New Years resolution, he contemplated it for years and one day he threw out his pack of unfinished cigarettes and never fired up again.

I have to confess I ate like a horse over the weekend of Christmas, I had let down my discipline a bit for a couple months even prior to that. April from Blessed Beyond Measure (add shameless plug for your friend’s blog here) had a picture of a candy store in one of her posts and my mouth watered just thinking about it knowing the delicacies I’d soon be scarfing.

I knew it was time to get some extra cardio. I didn’t wait for the week to end so I could start fresh in the New Year, I started that day, the day I realized the need. I’m not saying I’m exceptional for having done so, I just know that my human nature, if allowed to put something off, will very likely continue to put it off, whatever it is.

One thing I do at the start of the New Year is make a list and the title at the top of my scrap notebook paper reads “Goals,” the things I want to be a priority in my life for the next 12 months. I fold up that list to the size of a business card and keep it in my wallet. My list of goals is with me every day of the year. I don’t look at it every day, but occasionally I’ll pull it out, unfold it and measure where I’m at on my quest and goals for the year.

Things like doing cardio to lean out or landing a literary agent don’t make it onto my list. I figure if I take care of the big things, the little things will take care of themselves. Here is a sample of the last list I’ve carried around for over a year;

1. Trust God in everything.

2. Learn to have only fear of, and/or reverence for God. (no fear of the world)

3. Be of the highest character during everyone else’s meltdown.

4. Honor God by how I love my wife.

5. Be a bigger part in my kids lives.

The next two lines were business related and the goals for my Lacrosse girls regarding work ethic, character, and their self-image… OK, and yes, to win a state championship. (I didn’t say I was perfect!)

In truth resolutions and goals are essentially the same thing. We have to be resolute or determined and unwavering in our pursuit of fulfilling our goals or desires. I like to use goals, not only due to the negative connotation that have become associated with resolutions, but also because goals don’t ever have to be completely attained in order to receive gratification. I think anything attempted in life that is done for the right reasons and is carried out with passion, desire, honor, and perseverance, carries the gratification within the process, not the outcome.

I’ll make a new list of goals for this year and I’ll have to carry some over from last year, probably even every year for the rest of my life. Each year as I do a little better and get closer to my goals I’ll be encouraged… God honors seekers.

“Someday” isn’t one of the days of the week and I’ve also heard it said that “someday never comes.” Whatever day of the week it is, regardless of what week or month it is, it is today… you know what today is?

TODAY’S THE DAY! Let’s not just be talkers, let’s be doers. It happens this year for all of us and it starts with action.