Adventures in Parenting

The #1 reason people give for not making new year resolutions is that they will fail to keep the resolution.

It is probably true that many of us will not be able to keep to our resolutions. No need to go into personal examples to verify that fact! But still, I am making a case here that we should make new year resolutions.

Here are 3 reasons why I think we should make new year resolutions:

1. Making resolutions forces us to take stock of where we are and how we can improve.

The beginning of a new year is a natural time to force us to evaluate our lives. Am I the kind of person I want to be? Is there an area in my life that I would like to improve? Is there a relationship that has been bothering me that I know I need to smooth out? Is God convicting me of some aspect of my character that I need to work on?

2. Making resolutions indicates our desire to to make a step towards change.

One of my favorite sayings, credited to Albert Einstein, says, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.”

Even if we may in fact fail to make all the changes we want, making a resolution will at least take us forward a few steps, and to me, that’s better than nothing. At least we haven’t insanely stayed in the same spot.

3. Making resolutions sets forth a personal challenge.

I live in quiet, uneventful suburbia. I can get pretty complacent about life, the same ol’, same ol’. But I don’t want to grow old like that. I want to make sure I explore my potentials and continue to grow, even if it is a small step of reading one more book a year, or cleaning out one drawer a month.

So with the beginning of2010, I ask my children “What is one area in your life that you want to work on this year?” Whether they accomplish the change or not, they’ve already achieved some victory if they have an insight into that question I pose.

What about you? What is one area in your life that you want to work on this year?