New Year's Resolutions are a hot topic. Some believe in them whole heartedly, while others think they are a waste of time. I like to take time at the end of each year and reflect on all that has occured and what I've learned. Life never turns out quite like we plan, does it?
Many of my family, friends and acquaintances have faced overwhelming obstacles this past year. Some have experienced great victories, while others are still pursuing a promise, a good report, a dream or a completely new way of living.
Through it all, we learn, we grow, and we become wiser. These are great riches that will equip us for the future. As you close this New Year, be sure to reflect on what you have learned, not on what you have done wrong. What matters most – is that you stayed in the game.
My gift to you this New Year's Eve, is a challenge by Theodore Roosevelt:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.
Now, take a few moments to ponder what you have learned while you’ve stayed in the arena this year. How have you "Dared Greatly"?
Here’s my “Daring Greatly – Staying in the Arena” learning for 2014.
Choices matter. A lot.
Time is your friend.
Transition is not being stuck; it’s being somewhere new and unfamiliar.
Prayer works.
Friends are God’s kindness with skin on.
Endings can be necessary and healthy.
Love wins.
Letting go is a powerful mystery.
My perspective can help me, or hurt me.
If you seek for wisdom, you will find it.
Peace is like gold. It is a rich treasure.
How about you?