It's that time of the year again!

It's that time of the year before a new one begins when we stop to reflect upon, evaluate, and seek to enhance our lives and well-beings. 
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I don't know about you, but for me, it's like everything comes to a bit of a pause and I ask myself the "big questions" :

Where am I in life?
Are my thoughts where they need to be?
Am I happy?
How's my health?
Am I fulfilling my purpose?
What do I hope to accomplish over the next 52 weeks?

Often, we set all of these concrete goals, like...

I'm going to read 60 books.
I'm going to exercise three times per week.
I'm going to finally write that book.
I'm going to wake up early to do daily devotions.
I'm going to run a 5K.
​I'm going to get out more.

You get the idea. But then, life happens and we get so caught up in the unexpected that sometimes we lose sight of the things we so strongly resolved to accomplish.

Work gets demanding.
You have a child.
Someone gets sick.
Finances get tight.
You meet the love of your life.
​etc, etc, etc.

So why is it then that year after year we spend time reflecting and resolving? What is it about our nature that makes us thirty for betterment and seekers of fulfillment? How can we feel "successful" if we lose traction toward our goals in the day to day motions of living?

In the end, all we really want is to feel better about ourselves and proud of our accomplishments. So, perhaps resolving to be better people should just be a way of life instead of the decision to make huge life changes once a year that we usually end up carrying out for about a month or two.

Maybe on New Years Eve, instead of splurging on greasy appetizers and  calorie constituted cocktails under the notion that we will start eating healthy tomorrow, we should decide that in that moment, we will make the choice to eat healthy.

Maybe instead of writing down our resolution to finally write that book in 2016, we should just write a little bit of it today.

Perhaps if right now we were given the option to go for a jog or to watch TV, we should just choose the former.

I think it is the little stuff, day by day, one moment at a time that makes up the whole of our lives.

I think it is great and  actually necessary to have a vision and to set goals and to chase dreams, but I also think we underestimate the power of the NOW and the daily SMALL CHOICES that add up to give us the sense of fulfillment and achievement we are seeking.

Maybe we should resolve in the new year approaching not to make drastic declarations for our lives and ourselves, but to live in the moment: for each choice we make every day to be the kind of decision that we can be proud of and want to make again and again. 

​Cheers to a new year!