January 2022. Another month, another year rolls around. I’m not one who typically makes New Year’s resolutions. They’re too easy to break. If I resolve anything, it’s to get back on track. I’ve let some important habits slip during our big move this summer and their absence is dragging me down. It’s time to make a choice. Will 2022 follow in the same pattern as the last two years? Or will it be a year of thriving not merely surviving?
Life is difficult. I feel as if I’ve been in survival mode for some time. It started with my sister’s illness then worsened during the pandemic. I imagine I’m not the only one feeling this way.
But healthy habits build a framework that keeps me grounded. In the past, I’ve faithfully read a chapter in my Bible and written an entry in my journal every day. Scripture offered me insight from God’s Word as I processed life through the penning of my own words. Without these two nutrients for my soul, I find myself struggling to grow.
Like my little Norfolk pine, I’m bending toward the sun (Son), seeking its life sustaining rays. Over the summer, the baby tree was sorely neglected. It sat on the edge of the front porch catching sunlight and intermittent rain. Tim watered it if he noticed it drooping but only enough to keep it alive.
When we decided to bring it indoors to decorate for the holidays, it certainly looked like a sad Charlie Brown Christmas tree. But its existence was about to change. With consistent loving care, the Norfolk pine is now thriving, not merely surviving. Its branches are bright green with sprouts of new growth everywhere! It’s amazing what a little nurturing can do.
To thrive rather than survive takes purposeful nurturing of self, forming long-lasting healthful habits one step at a time. When life sidetracks these practices, the process begins again and again.
So, today I restart these two habits once more. Every day I will read a chapter in my Bible and write an entry in my journal as I have for years in the past. In this way, I strengthen the framework that holds me together through whatever lies ahead in the coming year.
God willing, I’m set on a path of thriving, not merely surviving in 2022.
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
Maya Angelou
