Monday's Musings: New Year's Resolution Check-up

by Mary Denman

Resilient flowers by Mary Denman Photography

So it's the middle of 2015, give or take a few days. How are your New Year's Resolutions going? Do you even remember what they are? 

Maybe you went the one word route. Instead of a lot of resolutions, you picked one word of focus for the year. 

This is what I did. 

My word? Overcome. 

But it hit me recently that I had almost forgotten my one word. That meant it was time for a mental check-up.

Overcoming adversity

First, I needed to know if I've overcome anything of significance this year. 

I have. 

One of the biggest things I overcame was my fear of sending off my manuscript for real feedback from an agent. I sent it back in May. 

Did I get a raving review? No! I didn't. It confirmed my suspicions that it needed work. 

But that's okay! It helped me move forward. 

The fear of sending it off held me back for a long time (think years). Once I knew it wasn't ready to go to publication, I had to decide whether to re-write or move on. For now, the answer is to move on from that project and start a new one. I think I may go back one day, but for now, it's time to change projects. 

Sending off my manuscript was a huge overcoming for me. 

Now that I've done it, I feel relieved and I'm glad I did. 

So what about the rest of my year? Well, I'm going to spend a little time looking around my life to see if there's another area or something in particular that stands out. Something that I need to overcome. Maybe it will be a stepping stone to the next assignment. Whether that's with writing, blogging, photography, my family, my faith, or my health. 

I don't know just yet what it is. But I'm now looking. Praying. Listening.

How about you? 

Is there a New Year's Resolution calling to you? One you've forgotten that's really important?

Are there some you've already accomplished that can give you motivation to finish the rest of the year strong? 

I hope there are. 

Even though we're halfway through the year, it doesn't have to mean we give up. We can start again. Right now. 

Will you join me? Will you be purposeful, intentional in your life? 

Let's finish this year strong! 

Please share what you've learned and where you want to go with the rest of the year, maybe the dreams you tucked away somewhere. 



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