I love how each new year feels like a blank slate, a renewed hope, another chance to refocus.
2010 was my year of grace and intention. Building on that, 2011 was my year of joy and rhythm. Now a new year is here and I have felt its themes building deep within me for the past few months: this will be my year of presence and habit.
Presence
Grace was a life-changing lesson for me. Seeking joy in all things only deepened that lesson. This year, it is presence that I seek. Oh, that word: presence, both God's and mine. I seek to be continually aware of His presence, a steady communion with God, a communion that arises from constant prayer, daily Scripture reading, and more time to simply sit and be still in His presence. I also desire for myself to be present in whatever moment I find myself in - because, after all, this moment is all I have.
Habit
If I have learned anything from my years of intention and rhythm, it is that intention requires habit. Our lives are governed by our habits, by those seemingly-small daily patterns that are engraved on our hearts and minds. A process I began last year, I seek this year to continue to bring about sustainable change in my life by intentionally creating positive habits, one at a time. Each changed habit is one step closer to the life I envision and desire to live.
This will be an eventful year, but I hope also that it will be a quiet one. Our past two years have been very outward- and community-focused; as I begin this year, however, I feel very inward-focused, contemplative, and peaceful. I desire, as I practice Presence and built Habit, to commune more deeply with my family and with God. We have found community and it is good, we will sustain it, but perhaps in a quieter (more habitual) way than our previous years of seeking and building.
From grace to joy to presence.
From intention to rhythm to habit.
Presence and habit.
Habit leading to presence.
Presence leading to habit.
This year will be good.
May your year be filled with joy, love, and peace!
Reading this earlier this week really inpsired me, thanks. Rebecca
ReplyDeleteI am also seeking these things in my life as a (what still feels new) mom to a now (thouhg I can't believe it) 14 month old little girl. Thanks for saying it so beautifully and reminding me of what I want for my life.
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