Resolving to be desperate
Posted on January 4, 2006
Filed Under Timely Issues | Leave a Comment
The new year is upon us and in conjunction with that turn of the page on the calendar many people set some kind of formal or informal resolutions for the new year. While some are still determining those goals, others have already given up on achieving their short lived dreams of change for 2006.
Why is it that some resolutions are kept while others are discarded or simply forgotten even before the glitter of the New Year begins to dim? I suppose that one reason is that it can be more fashionable to make resolutions for change than it is to fulfill them. Certainly it is easier to make a resolution than it is to see it through.
But for those who are quite sincere in wanting to see those goals become a reality, what will make the difference? May I suggest that the resolutions that are kept are done so by those who are desperate? Desperation will drive a person to any measure of action. It is chic to resolve to lose 20 pounds and become a more slender you, but most health club memberships paid for in January are still awaiting activation in February. On the other hand, when a visit to the doctor reveals “off the chart” cholesterol readings along with arteries that are barely passable and the physician prescribes a radical change in diet and exercise, change usually occurs immediately. The difference is the level of desperation. Think about the last significant change you made in your life. What moved you to action? What finally got you off the dime? Why did you finally decide to “just do it”? Was it because your sense of desperation reached a critical level?
Some of the more important questions in life are just as fashionable for people to dabble in. Questions of meaning and purpose, death, eternity and God are interesting to consider when it is convenient and an answer would be nice as long as it doesn’t interfere with some “must see TV”. Then again, when the pink slip arrives or the diagnosis is “6 months or less” the questions take on a new urgency. Do circumstances have to reach that level before we get desperate? I don’t think so. So let me suggest that a great resolution for the New Year is to resolve to be desperate. I know it is hard to work up some desperation. Maybe it would help to consider the importance of this year from the perspective of the end. What change will you regret most if you don’t make it 12 months from now? Is it a relationship; an issue that needs to be dealt with; or a change in priorities that needs to be seen in your daily calendar? Would you be more motivated if you knew that you only had 12 months to live? What role would God play in it if that were the case?
Happy New Year and here is a toast to resolving to be desperate this year!
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