New Year resolutions and the gift of introspection
“Lord, let me know myself; let me know you.”
St. Augustine
“For you created my inmost being;
King David, Psalm 139:13
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
As each New Year begins, the various ways people are making resolutions for the New Year come across my social media feeds. Most of these ideas are predicated on the likely reality that we’ll make it mid-way into February, make some negotiation with ourselves, and then call it quits on the original resolution.
I get it.
Sticking with a New Year’s resolution is difficult.
And as much as I hate this phrase – do we throw out the baby with the bath water? Because we can’t fulfill our New Year resolution(s), does that mean we should never make them?
I personally don’t think so.
Each year, I make a resolution or two. But they don’t just come out of nowhere.
These resolutions come from a place of looking back at the previous year or the years before and reflecting on what type of person my habits and rhythms have made me into. The same goes for looking into the new year and asking myself, “what type of person do I want to become and how can this year help me get closer to that person?”
Take “losing weight” or “getting healthier” as a new year resolution that millions of people make.
It’s a fantastic goal. But what does it tell you about how you view yourself in the present moment and the type of person you want to become as you embark on the journey of strength training, body conditioning, healthy eating habits, etc.?
Perhaps this resolution can help you understand how you view your body when you look at yourself in the mirror. Maybe this resolution sheds light on how you compare yourself to other people around you. Maybe this resolution has exposed whether you have a high or low view of the human body.
Our New Year resolutions are so much more than trying to accomplish a goal or a task by some deadline.
Our New Year resolutions can help us understand how we view ourselves and others, pinpoint our insecurities, tell us where we want to put our values and our attention, and they can tell us about who we want to become while putting some wheels on that train to get things going.
I’ll end with this. When St. Augustine prayed, “Lord, let me know myself; let me know you.”, his insights were profound. The more we know about ourselves, the more we come to know our Creator. Because in the beautiful ways He has knit us together, we see more of the imago dei (“image of God”) in and on us. But we also see the areas where sin has plagued the human condition, in both spirit and body, and can see how the goodness of God desires to repair and restore the afflicted areas.
So go ahead.
Make that New Year’s resolution.
Stick with it as best as you can.
But also take some time to see where that resolution comes from within you and see where God can step into your life at a soul level to help and restore you in a way where no New Year resolution could come close.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on www.fromdusttodust.co. It has been edited and republished here with the author’s permission.