How is your “Year in Review” process going? This is the time of year that it seems everyone is telling of their top 10 to 20 books they’ve read in 2022. Or they are posting their…
Favorite 12 pictures they’ve taken in the past year
Their favorite fun memories of the year
Their top five travel destinations of the year
The top five things they’ve learned in 2022
Their top three life changing moments of 2022
Their favorite songs or movies of the year
This list could go on and on. Actually, making these lists is kind of a fun activity. It is a way of summarizing the year and seeing what all one has done with the 12 months, the 52, weeks, the 365 days, the 8,760 hours, the 525,600 minutes, and the 31,536,000 seconds that we have been given and used in the year 2022. (Hmmm, I wonder how many minutes/hours I’ve spent writing articles like this or writing sermons?)
So, as you’re making your lists and recalling, hopefully many good memories, I want to ask you another question to consider and respond to. What are the top three things you had hoped to accomplish in 2022, but didn’t? Wait…don’t stop reading!!! Don’t think I’m trying to be a “downer” or a negative person making you focus on the things you didn’t accomplish in the past year. Please read on…there is a reason I’m asking this question of myself…as well as asking it of you.
The truth is there are several things that I had intended to accomplish but didn’t. They were even on my list of goals for 2022. But the truth is several of my goals I didn’t accomplish. So, the question I’m asking myself is, are these still goals that are worthy of pursuing and goals that I want to accomplish. If my answer to either of those questions is “No.” Then it’s probably OK to simply allow those goals to remain in the past and move on. However, if those goals are still something that are worthy of seeking after and things that I want to accomplish to make myself a better person, then I have another course of action to take…that of resuming the journey of reaching for those goals and achieving them in my life.
You see, there is nothing magical about 12:00 am on January 1. It’s just a marking point in time. It is not a boundary marker saying no unaccomplished goals from the past year can move beyond this point. We would all be in huge trouble if that were the case. So, I don’t need to feel like a failure for not having achieved them. I simply need to refocus my energy, learn what the obstacles to success were, and set a new course for what I want to learn and accomplish in the days to come.
A great question I want us all to answer today is this, “What are the 2-3 goals that I/we didn’t achieve in 2022 that I am going to continue reaching for in 2023? Make that list, set the goals, and then start taking steps to intentionally move in the direction of reaching those goals. It’s great to have goals, it’s even better to be continually moving toward them, step by step. May we each keep on learning and growing as human beings, and as followers of Jesus in the year that is before us. Remember, God is with us on this journey!!!
Pastor Keith