Making the most of today

There is something about a New Year that is so satisfying to me. It is genuinely my second favorite holiday. 

There is just something so hopeful about a fresh start that a New Year brings. My husband sees January 1st as just another day, but for me it is something wayyyy more special.

I love the idea of resolutions/goals/etc. Have I always stuck to my resolutions? Absolutely not, but the awareness is there and that’s what I love. I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about what my thoughts are going into this new year, 2022!

Here is a little summary of what the last couple months of 2021 have looked like for me.

Whenever I had free time, it was typically spent just scrolling on my phone or watching youtube videos. This typically resulted in me wasting multiple hours looking at other people’s lives on a screen.

At the same time, my relationship with the Lord was slacking. I wasn’t prioritizing it as much as I should have been, yet I was desiring something more. I desired for my relationship with the Lord to become deeper, more personal, and more real.

I desired to hear from God and to see/notice Him more throughout my day, but whenever I would sit down to spend time with Him, I almost felt rushed because I was wanting to watch the latest youtube video or see what everyone else was up to online. 

As more days were spent like this, I got more and more frustrated. I knew what I wanted to do and should be doing, but wasn’t doing anything about it. I wasn’t doing things that I enjoyed either.

I wasn’t being productive. I no longer had a hobby. I felt like I was just wasting the days away not doing anything, but staring at a screen. I kept telling myself that tomorrow would be better but then tomorrow would come and it would be spent the same exact way. 

Gradually, the Lord began to reveal to me how toxic this trait was becoming. It wasn’t that social media or youtube were bad or unhealthy in and of themselves… it was that I was abusing them and allowing them to influence my life in an unhealthy way.

The relationship I had with my screen was taking away from the relationship that I could've been growing with the Lord as well as any personal growth. Typing this struggle out makes me feel so funny, but it's the truth.

As you could probably assume, my mind and heart had little room to hear from God. There were rarely sweet moments of silence that allowed me to see evidences of Jesus or even enjoy the world around me. My mind was always thinking, wondering, or focused on something else.

What I want to accomplish in 2022 is to simply be more present in the world around me as well as shut out the noise of the outside world in order to allow room for God in my heart and mind.

I want to spend time journaling again. I want to enjoy reading novels again. I want to enjoy the quiet moments, mundane tasks, and hours spent enjoying the present day that is in front of me.

Who cares what everyone else is doing in the world around me. I want to redevelop a healthy relationship with the world of social media and everything that comes with it.

I know it sounds silly, but that’s honestly where I’m at and I want to start the year off being honest with myself. I hope someone can see where I'm coming from and can relate to me in some way. 

Maybe this is encouraging you to reevaluate your personal life too. Maybe your thing isn't social media. The enemy can use anything to distract you from what really matters no matter how silly it may seem. No one else can really tell you. It is between you and the Holy Spirit.

Is there anything in your life that you should address, quit, shift, or change in order to give the Lord the space in your heart and mind? What is hindering you from growing in your relationship with God? Or simply, what is something that you can improve on this year?

Whatever it is, big or small, it is never too late to start. January 1st isn’t a magical day that automatically makes everything better. It is a daily personal decision that makes us grow and become better. There is hope for us every day and lots grace to go along with it. Let’s make the most of today and make this year better than the last!

Happy New Year!