Change

It was really uncanny when I saw this weeks’ prompt because on Thursday morning as I stood underneath the shower I made a promise to myself. In 2007, I promised, I shall not make any resolutions rather; it will be my year of Change. I will not have a long list of things which I tick off along the way instead, I shall effect small but important changes which will have a significant impact on and in my life over the next 12 months.

You see, I never quite fulfill my resolutions, and on the 31st of each year they stare at me accusingly from off the page on which I had written them 365days prior. I feel guilty, I feel annoyed, I feel like I have failed… yet again. I am tired of feeling like this every years end.

The one question I ask myself as 2007 looms is - Which habits do I need to change to move me one step further to where I want to be?

I shall not resolve to lose 10kg before the end of March but I will change my eating habits by taking one less bread roll or walking to the grocery store instead of hopping into the car for the 2 minute drive.

I shall not resolve to read the Bible in a year but I will change the way I read it – reading one chapter only a day and if it takes me 3 years to finish it, then I would have accomplished my mission.

You see, my life does not need resolutions, it need Change. A Change in my habits, a Change in the way I view life (no, the universe is not out to get me), a Change in the way I perceive myself and my abilities, a Change in the way I deal with people, a Change in my personal relationships and my relationship with God, a Change in my thinking.

And these changes cannot be achieved in one year – which (mainly) is the deadline for the achievement of resolutions. Change takes time. It’s taken almost 37 years to make me what I am today, so what makes me think I can undo the person I have become in just one year?

So I raise my glass to change and echo the words of Oprah who says

Making a different choice gives you the opportunity to live a different life.

Happy New Year in advance everyone!