A new year but not necessarily a new person all on your own

I think whether or not we make official new year's resolutions, deep down inside, we expect (or hope) a new year means that we can turn over a new leaf, start off with a clean slate, and any other number of proverbial new beginnings. However, oftentimes we find ourselves making the same mistakes as the previous year, and it feels like a failure. But rather than dwelling on the fact that we "failed," (who's keeping score other than ourselves anyway?) we need to dig deep and push ourselves to understand why. If in fact we are creatures of habit, how do we break those cycles? First of all by understanding that we are in fact in a cycle, and then looking for points of departure because there are some circumstances, obviously, that are far beyond our control.

While I believe that we are all responsible for the decisions we make in our lives, once we reach some semblance of adulthood, no matter how old we are, we can still ask for help to make meaningful changes in our lives. If in fact, we hold ourselves accountable to others and God might that make the difference? It's much easier on my conscience to let myself down than to let my sister, or my friends down so maybe it's not such a bad idea to go half-sies on change. Rather than thinking that we must suddenly become a better person all on our own, maybe it's better to share the burden of change with others we care about and recognize that we should do the same for them.

I'm not going to write down any specific new year's resolutions here, but I am going to be much more intentional in my decisions and actions and be more humble about asking for help when I need it, and maybe that's resolution enough. Happy New Year, welcome 2010 (a few weeks after the fact)!