As 2008 progresses through its early stages, resolutions are high on many people’s priority lists. At this time of year, optimism is positive as plans are being made to improve one’s lot in life. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of people, those early resolution plans dissipate and completely vanish as time goes by and, before long, another year has passed and they’re still stuck with the same resolutions as the previous year or years. Marred with these frustrating events, it becomes a hopeless case of wishful thinking designed to keep one’s spirits up while, at the same time, avoiding the inevitable sign of failure.
Bearing this in mind, one has to wonder, “Why even bother with all of these so-called resolutions to begin with? Since many of them go the way of the morning dew on a hot, sunny afternoon, it seems a waste of time even contemplating them.” The fact of the matter is, without them, many ordinary people would have no hope of improving their status in the New Year. For the success-driven, it is an essential blueprint to measure their potential, as it has been in previous years. It is a ruler to measure themselves and provides something to aim for throughout the year and beyond.
While most resolutions start out on a good note, many of them lack legitimate, realistic short-term strategies toward reaching the eventual goals. People usually start out with reasonable expectations and reasonable methods of application. As time goes by, however, they either tire or surrender to some obstacle that hinders them from either furthering or achieving their goals. It may be a minor, medium or major obstacle, but it’s an obstacle nonetheless. While the success-driven see this as an opportunity to grow and learn, the vast majority view it as the end-all and be-all for their goals. Unfortunately, those individuals never fully recover from their nasty meet with failure, and the resolutions, along with their dreams and aspirations, go by the wayside.
There is a bright side to all this madness, though. With persistence, faith, steadfastness and belief and prayer to God, the New Year’s Resolution can be brought to fruition. I offer three guidelines to aid in the pathway to that blissful road to success.
(1) Don’t defame, defile or belittle yourself or others. Strive not to do things to harm yourself and others, and don’t stand in other’s ways as they try to realize their dreams and goals. In the meantime, stay away from others who will try to stand in your way as well, which brings me to my next point.
(2) Don’t allow others to defile, belittle or defame you. Life is too short to be living under substandard treatment and allowing yourselves to be used as bait in someone else’s tackle. There’s more to life than living a quasi-pseudo-quality lifestyle. In the Creator’s eyes, every life has meaning. We owe it to ourselves, to others and especially to Him to strive to be the best that we can be.
(3) Continue to strive to improve. Simply put, continue to try. Hard times, obstacles, trials and tribulations are certain, but we must not allow them to define who we are as human beings. It is much easier said than done, but it can prove to be the most difficult if we decide not to strive at all. In fact, many obstacles are nothing more than teaching tools to those who have faith. By practicing such, we at least increase our odds of overcoming any setbacks sent our way.
In conclusion, I’ll leave you with a scripture in the Holy Bible from Luke 1:37: “For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Jackson is a UR employee.
