Every January as a new year begins, so does increased talk of resolutions, goal setting, vision boards, intentions, focus words and on and on.
None of these are bad ideas, but after the couple of years we’ve just come out of, I am already exhausted when I begin to think of ‘ways to be better in 2022.’ It might just be me, but I’m not up for a new challenge at this moment.
Instead, I’m using the rest of this winter season as a time of stillness, listening, contemplation – words that feel like balm to my soul. These things tend to go by the wayside for me in the waning days of the year, when the holidays, friends, family and events crowd them out.
Instead of trying to jump into an even higher gear and choose ways to do more, better, different, I’m choosing to downshift and ponder, question, and ask my God to speak – and then allow enough quiet to actually hear Him when He does.
For me, this looks like a really light schedule of planned activities, prayer that feels more like silence than my usual self-directed monologue, and listening to hear what God might want to show me through His word and teachers of it. I’m looking forward to a few weeks dedicated to these less driven activities; I’ve learned from Januarys passed that resolutions aren’t the fuel I need this year.
Looking for a place to start in some of these activities?
A helpful resource for me was Silence and Solitude. Pulpit Rock is also gifting you a new subscription to Right Now Media!
