New Year Resolution Epiphany

Happy 2012! Today I sat down and dutifully started listing out all of my new year resolutions. First, I listed all the things I “should” do, which morphed into the things I “want” to do. Several on the two lists match up. In all honesty, it might be hard to stick to any resolution on the “should” list that isn’t on the “want” list. For example, I definitely “should” exercise every day. But, if I do not “want” to commit to putting in the effort and persistence that it takes to plan and execute that goal, then will it actually happen? (Rhetorical question. But, I think it’s something rather important to ponder as we make our goals.)

My third and final list combined the goals of #1 and #2 on the left hand side of the paper, with a corresponding column on the right hand side of the paper with the heading: “How I will Accomplish This?”. After all, as the saying goes, If we “fail to plan, we plan to fail”:

Interestingly enough, later on in the day, I had an epiphany. It came by way of a song – performed by one of my favorite singers of all time (Brian Stokes Mitchell) . It’s a song I’ve heard many times, both in the original soundtrack for the animated film “Prince of Egypt”, and as a live performance. The message is priceless. It encourages us to look at our life “through heaven’s eyes”. And then it hit me – what if I looked at my New Year’s resolutions this year “through heaven’s eyes”? With that in mind, I took out my list again. I realized that I have a great plan, but there’s one important step I missed. It’s time to talk to my Heavenly Father and ask for His input!