Have you ever had the desire to pick up someone else’s journal and read the insights of their soul?  Have you given into your curiosity and read on?  Well, here’s your chance to peek at something I learned this week with my permission.  But before we get there, let me ask you a question:

How has this month gone for you so far in reaching your new year goals?

In an earlier post I shared my go-to word of the year?  Yep, ‘Discipline’.  January was to contain gallons of it!  Ironically, my intended gallons feel like tiny teaspoons as we approach the end of the month.  Though I had a more heightened awareness of that intention, I also have experienced disappointment.  You see, I seemed to have come down with a virus/cold/bug?  Who knows??  But it happened twice this month.  So out the door went my hopes to start this year off with more dialed-in determination.  Quite frankly I felt off my game, many times.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s often-used quote, “Believe you can and you’re halfway there,” only got me 50% of the way through my January goals.  My belief was not the issue… it was execution. 

I did not make great leaps and bounds in the areas I hoped for but I did discover it takes discipline to not be hard on one’s-self.  So in truth, this past month has not been wasted.  It was full of noticing those things that money can’t buy and a calendar can’t necessarily plan for.  It was filled with trying my best and letting that be good enough.  I experienced genuine love and concern from my family, friends, and clients and was also grateful for tissues, cough drops, vitamins galore and time to rest.  It was ok to say I couldn’t do everything I had planned for, yet still appreciate the best I could do.

My journal could read, “January 2022 – I got sick and lost a grip on my goals.”  20-ish days of failure so far”. 

But instead, it reads, “I was ill several weeks this month and working on my goals went very different than I had hoped.  But I did the best I could.  I still strived.  I still learned. God still helped me on the daily.  Through prayer, He blessed me with exactly what I needed to push through the difficulties of the day.  I had enough energy to do what was essential.  I’m still waiting for all my strength to return so I can do more than just climb up my basement stairs without feeling winded, but in the meantime, I have been able to let go and ‘let God prevail’.  Perhaps that’s my first lesson in discipline for the year.” 

I am reminded of one of the definitions of the word disciple: ‘one who follows another for the purpose of learning.

Action Opportunity:  Record what your successes were this month, look at what you hoped to accomplish but didn’t, and see what you can learn.   Is there anywhere you need to have some self-compassion? I hope you’ll take a moment to write in your journal and see the valuable learning curve of this new year.