Hopes for 2009...

I don't want to call them resolutions because those always seem to get broken, so instead here are my hopes and aspirations for this year.

-To change my lifestyle for the better. I refuse to diet anymore, this year I have decided to completely change the way I live. Diets don't work!! I have started to eat right and am even going back to the gym which I have been paying for just to collect dust on my key chain for months now. I am making healthy meals at home instead of eating out and trying to work the gym into my hectic schedule wherever possible. I might have to switch gyms when my current membership is up though because my schedule is so crazy that the gyms hours don't meet my needs.

-To be completely content with myself. This is not to say that I am not currently happy with myself, instead it simply means that instead of beating myself up about the things that I can no longer change I will instead make new goals that I can focus on achieving. There were so many things on my list to have accomplished by now that have gotten pushed aside for whatever reason. It is time to reevaluate those goals, if they are still a priority then I need to figure out how to make them happen and if they are something fleeting that has passed me by, then I need to finally let them go and quit being so hard on myself that I never got the chance to accomplish them.

-To reconnect with old friends or even family that are worth the effort and to make some new ones along the way. Somehow I guess have lost touch with some people that I dearly miss, people who were there for me in one way or another, or even just friends I made along the way. Some would say this is just a hazard for graduating and starting a career, however I think those people were place in my life for a reason and it was up to me to keep them around, but I got busy like we all do and lost touch. So this year I will make an effort to make time for the people who are important to me.

-To become closer to God again. I feel like since I left college many of his messages have passed me by, without my even realizing. I think when I was at DBU even though I didn't live on campus I was still in this little cocoon of believers, it was like a safe haven where for the most part people were the way we were all intended to be. Once leaving and re-entering the REAL world, my outlook somehow became fuzzy due to the un-christian behaviors of the everyday people I run into. Somehow instead of realizing that they are a product of the devil and trying to do whatever I could to show them that I was not I instead began to get frustrated with the world in general. I hope that this year I can begin to turn around and instead of letting the rudeness and evil of the world get me down I will lead by example. I will put on my discipleship attire and show the world what it could be like if only people would follow God instead of allowing the devil to go to work in their lives. I feel like if I can reduce my frustration then my outlook will become clear once again and I will be able to see His messages clearly again, instead of trying to make them out through the thick fog that has settled over me.

I guess that's it for now...we shall see how things go...but I know that only I can stand up and regain control of my life by giving back to the One who put me here!!