Prodigals Returning

How are you doing on your New Year's Resolutions?  Here we are in the 3rd week of the new year.  It's a good time to assess.

Or maybe not.  Perhaps you're feeling a bit of despair over how shallow your commitment was.  But you could still get on track.

I've written a post for the Living Lutheran site that considers what we can learn spiritually from our failed new year's resolutions.  Here are some quotes to whet your appetite:

"Now is the time of year when many of us return to regular life. We put away the excesses that often come with December. We return to jobs, exercise, regular bedtimes, housework and moderate eating. We might also be struggling with a smidge of depression – December was so much fun, so lovely, so festive!"

"Psychologists remind us that failure is often necessary before we fully adopt the positive habits we want or before we fully discard the habits that aren’t serving us. So now is a good time to reframe our efforts. We’ve been learning what doesn’t work. We’ve been experimenting to find what our souls need."

"We need to start where we are, not where we think we should be. Far better to be the person who goes out for a gentle jog for 10 minutes, and then next week runs for 15 minutes, and throughout the year, adding five minutes each week. In horse training terms, we need to keep the jumps small and achievable. But we also need to keep challenging ourselves so that we grow spiritually."

Go here to read the whole essay.