If you are at this point in the year and wondering how you made it to this point, you’re not alone. Seems this year flew by with some major challenges, a number of good times, and run-of-the-mill blahs. As I have met with people throughout this year, that’s what I’ve seen. It’s remarkable how many people I know are confronted with varying degrees of challenges, good times, and blahs, but continue to roll forward.
Life has a way of grabbing our attention and making us focus on some of the hard times more profoundly than the good times. In those instances, the issues at hand can seem all-consuming. Sometimes, when our minds are consumed in concern over difficulties, it can seem like we are on auto-pilot. When difficulty and stress overwhelm us, it is vital that we remind ourselves of this: “I’m the pilot, not this issue, not anyone else. I will decide how to manage this.”
Imagine a set of escalators in a mall or other location. One is going up and one is going down. Have you ever tried (or maybe seen someone else try) to walk up the escalator that is going down. It is possible to make it to the top (with great personal effort). If you have that image in your mind of someone trying to make it to the top, envision challenges as the automatic downward pull of the escalator. With determination, it can be faced and surmounted. But what happens if the person trying to move up the escalator stops trying? It would be nice to say they could stay in the place they worked hard to get to, but the reality is that the forces continue to move in the opposite direction. So it is with life. As challenges occur (as they do to EVERY person that’s ever lived), we remind ourselves of our past successes, the good in our lives, and the strength we have built over the years going up the down escalator.
Now, it’s time to consider the coming year. Rejoice! You’ve made it (again) to a new year! Is there anything you’d like to “do over” (within reason)? Is there anything you would like to avoid? This is a perfect time to consider a story from the Bible in the Old Testament. Whether you consider it sacred text or a book of wisdom, this story will ring true to you. There was a family living in a city that was going to be destroyed. They were given a chance to leave before it was destroyed. Yet, they loved their home and their town. I’m sure they made good memories there and that’s why it was hard to leave. When they were counseled to leave, they were warned “look not behind thee”. One of them, longing for the place where they had lived and possibly thinking it couldn’t get any better, looked back and “became a pillar of salt.” This appears quite drastic. But the counsel we can take from it is this: Review 2017 and attempt to look ahead to 2018 knowing that you don’t have to repeat the negative aspects of 2017. Collect the good and positives to carry into 2018 with hope that you have the opportunity for a “do-over” in 2018.
If you’re reading this, you are given the opportunity to make the coming year better. Look forward with hope!
