I'm not great with resolutions or goal-setting. It stresses me out because I get overly focused on the task at hand and beat myself up if/when I don't accomplish it. I've been this way for a long time - I've got a list from an old journal entitled "Things I want to be." The last item on the list of fifteen adjectives is PERFECT. I still remember writing the list and wishing that I was essentially a different person than I am.
To over-compensate, as an adult I set goals that are so low and easy to reach that they're pretty much non-goals. Which may be less helpful than having too many impossible goals. But I think I'm finally finding my middle ground. Instead of goals or resolutions (although I do both of those in small ways, like when I decided to join a gym or go six weeks without using the word "busy"), I mark my years with themes.
For 2008-2009, the theme that I would say dominated my life was rest. I learned (and applied) a lot about the reality of God as a God of rest, the vital need for rest as a part of a well-balanced life, and what it means/looks like to have a heart that is truly at rest.
And then, in the fall, I felt the winds of change begin to blow. I read some books. I had a lot of conversations, and in my heart, I landed on the theme for the next part of my life.
Risk.
I'm not a chance-taker, by nature. I'm a pragmatist. I like guaranteed outcomes. I dislike failure.
BUT life is not guaranteed. Things won't always be easy. And if I never fail, I never learn. Or at least, I learn a lot less.
PLUS my resistance to risk means that I'm missing out on some experiential knowledge of God as a God who is trustworthy and capable and good to His promises.
So I've been thinking a lot about risks and getting ready to take some (in a calculated and slow sort of way). And I'd love to hear from all of you:
What are risks you've taken that played out well?
What are lessons you've learned from trying and failing?
What's one thing you dream of taking a risk on?
Final thought: if you type "risk" into Youtube, this is your top hit:
To over-compensate, as an adult I set goals that are so low and easy to reach that they're pretty much non-goals. Which may be less helpful than having too many impossible goals. But I think I'm finally finding my middle ground. Instead of goals or resolutions (although I do both of those in small ways, like when I decided to join a gym or go six weeks without using the word "busy"), I mark my years with themes.
For 2008-2009, the theme that I would say dominated my life was rest. I learned (and applied) a lot about the reality of God as a God of rest, the vital need for rest as a part of a well-balanced life, and what it means/looks like to have a heart that is truly at rest.
And then, in the fall, I felt the winds of change begin to blow. I read some books. I had a lot of conversations, and in my heart, I landed on the theme for the next part of my life.
Risk.
I'm not a chance-taker, by nature. I'm a pragmatist. I like guaranteed outcomes. I dislike failure.
BUT life is not guaranteed. Things won't always be easy. And if I never fail, I never learn. Or at least, I learn a lot less.
PLUS my resistance to risk means that I'm missing out on some experiential knowledge of God as a God who is trustworthy and capable and good to His promises.
So I've been thinking a lot about risks and getting ready to take some (in a calculated and slow sort of way). And I'd love to hear from all of you:
What are risks you've taken that played out well?
What are lessons you've learned from trying and failing?
What's one thing you dream of taking a risk on?
Final thought: if you type "risk" into Youtube, this is your top hit:
Last year, I scribbled down: "Be up for the adventure. Laugh a lot. Love without abandon. Take risks. Write it down."
ReplyDeleteAnd so I did. I quit my job with no real plan, just a sense of urgency: now or never. And I started to follow a still-not-completely-defined dream.
I've learned that moving forward is what matters. (Even if it's falling forward.) And that being completely NON-self-sufficient is a beautiful freeing thing.
I've learned that risk-taking doesn't have to be a lonely experience. There are people willing to come alongside you in wonderfully encouraging and challenging ways. Community is important. Like the High School Musical kids sing, "We're all in this together."
Other "risk" lessons learned? "Never take a risk on a boy who calls you by your last name." But that was soooo 2008 :)
End of novel. Beginning of adventure.