Starting Another New Year

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Deborah Newell

And once again looking expectantly to starting something new. Maybe becoming someone new.

We all have that feeling at first, or a part of it. This is going to be a year of changes, a year we accomplish something new, a year of becoming a new person, etc.

All over social media we see the examples, many times in the form of ads for products being pushed on us that are supposed to make that huge change in your life.

Ads for new journals to use to record all the wonderful things you’re going to do. Ads for art and writing classes that will suddenly change your entire life, just by using their product. Ads for cosmetics that will instantly make you look ten or twenty years younger overnight. Ads for products that will teach you a new language, a new skill, or make you lose weight easily and quickly; all you have to do is buy the product!

So what’s the magic formula that changes December 31, 2022 at 11:59 PM to January 1, 2023 at 12:00 midnight that suddenly makes all your hopes and dreams come true in just a second of time? What causes that transformation from who you were that particular second to the new person you become the next second?

Do you magically feel different, look different, think different, maybe suddenly have everything you ever wanted?

It’s not that easy, is it?

Our expectations are easy to imagine in our minds. But to make them actually happen is another matter.

Sure, we start out believing that THIS new year is “it”. The year we do this, that or the other thing; the year that we become who we’re destined to be; the year we find that perfect job, that perfect relationship, that perfect thing we’ve been looking for for so long.

We’re expectant. We’re excited. We start new things and vow to continue our new “me” forever.

And for several weeks we do. But the novelty wears off, and we quickly become tired of trying so hard because we don’t get what we want right away, and by the end of January we’re back to our old selves, wondering why nothing has changed yet.

It happens to all of us at one time or the other. Sometimes over and over.

Because making a change entails a lot more than saying you’re going to do this or that. It involves changing your mindset, the way you think about things.

It involves stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a chance. It involves doing something new, in order to make a change.

And it also involves sticking with something even when you don’t see the results immediately, like in a few weeks or maybe a month. Because change isn’t instant. You can’t wiggle your nose or snap your fingers and instantly change your life. That’s not how it works.

Yes, the new year is a great time to make promises of things you’re going to do to change your life. But that change will only happen if you make a conscious and conscientious decision to really do it, and not give up and not stop until you reach your goal.

Change can only come by working toward a goal and continuing, even when you don’t see things happening right away or the way you expect them to.

It took a lot of years to become who your were on December 31. So why do you expect to immediately be someone else on January 1?

Promising yourself to do something different in this new year is great, but don’t lose sight of that promise on January 2, or 3, or January 20….or the next month or two. You can accomplish your goal, but not without changing your mindset and your way of living.

So try it. What have you got to lose?

Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

Leaving Behind

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Deborah Newell

As 2021 is still not a distant enough memory, I’m thinking about those from 2021 who will no longer be in our lives for 2022.

The ones who don’t agree with us, who don’t like our political views, and disagree on other matters we won’t even address. Who cannot handle it when we speak our feelings.

We will miss you, but we will not compromise on our principles and beliefs any more than you will. And our viewpoint is just as important to us as yours is to you. If years of friendship cannot withstand opposing views, and we cannot agree to peacefully disagree, then we didn’t have a true friendship in the first place.

It hurts, but we’ll get through it.

When the Confetti is Gone

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Deborah Newell

Times Square was filled with people. Thousands of them cheering and screaming and waiting for the ball to drop. There were party hats and noisemakers. Streamers and confetti. Entertainers and TV cameras. Each and every one couldn’t wait til that magic moment.

You could almost feel the anticipation as we watched the activity on TV in the comfort of our home, like millions of others across the country and the world.

Like us, they were waiting. Across the globe other time zones had already passed into the new year, and the cameras would occasionally switch to show the other celebrations that were already over….almost as quickly as they began.

In the scope of mere seconds, another year had ended, and another had begun. We were all excited, as we celebrated a new beginning, watched fireworks and tossed confetti, called and texted friends and wished them “Happy New Year!”, and then….what next?

Within a half hour Times Square was almost empty, except for those whose job it was to clean up after the party was over. The celebrants had left, moving on to other parties to find another reason to celebrate, or going back to hotel rooms or homes, as the feeling of euphoria and excitement they’d just experienced slowly left them, and the same old feelings they’d tried to leave behind returned. The confetti and streamers that had been tossed in the air a short time ago, were already being swept away and discarded…forgotten. They were no longer needed or wanted. Because there was no more anticipation or excitement; nothing to look forward to. Really? Are you sure about that?

Life often hits us like that. We spend so much time preparing for and anticipating an important event…and when it’s over, we’re let down. Almost depressed. We dissect what took place, look at the pictures, share memories with friends, but we can’t quite seem to capture that exact feeling again. We keep looking for that same excitement to reoccur, and we’re disappointed when it seems to be back to business as usual.

Or is it back to business as usual because we allow it to be?

We forget how to look ahead with expectancy and excitement, unless it’s for some big special event coming up. We forget there are little things to be excited about, as well as the excitement and anticipation of things to come that we don’t even know about. There are things we’ve been hoping for, and praying for, but we’re almost to the point of giving up on them. Because we’ve been waiting so long, and we just don’t think it’s going to ever happen.

But guess what! It is! Isaiah 43:19 tells us, “Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it?” (NCV) We only need to look with our spiritual eyes and heart. We need to see it as already accomplished and begin thanking the Lord that it’s already done. Because He has promised us, and we know that those promises are always fulfilled!

I’m guilty of feeling that way, too. More often than I’d like to be. But this year I’m making a serious effort to change that! I am determined not to go back to that old way of thinking, and I’m going to start seeing all of those things as already done. There’s so much to look forward to in this coming year. The birth of our first granddaughter in May is the only one I really know about, but I know there are many more exciting blessings coming our way! I just don’t know when they will occur, or exactly what they will be, but I know they are coming.

So I’m getting out the confetti and the streamers (and maybe a few balloons), and I’m getting ready!