The week between Christmas and New Year is a time when nobody knows exactly what they should be doing. People catch up on Christmas shopping and try to benefit from the best discounts, others go to lunch and dinner with different sides of the family, or on holiday for a few days; students try to catch up on assignments and parents cannot wait for their children to go back to school.

There is a lot to do and yet there really isn’t. What if, instead of losing this time, we use the week to think about what we want to improve about ourselves in the next year? While I have mixed feelings about the whole concept of New Year’s Resolutions, I also consider this to be a good week to start afresh, begin something new, make a list of goals to accomplish throughout the new year and set some time aside to evaluate what has worked and what hasn’t.

However, I also believe that this doesn’t have to be the only time in the year when we stop to reflect and write down resolutions. If you’re not feeling it this time of year, it’s okay – don’t be too hard on yourself for not setting goals at the start of a new year. Change happens when we make it happen. The 1st of January isn’t going to guarantee that you stick to whatever you set your mind to anymore than the 10th of January will. If the first day of the new year gives you a helpful boost, by all means, use this time to your benefit, but don’t lose heart if you don’t manage to do so.

In reality, what use is it to set goals that we are certain we will not accomplish just for the sake of taking up resolutions? If it is your kind of thing, by all means do so, however, remember that anytime is a good time to start something new if it is for the glory of God. If you think of a great way to start loving others better next February, or want to switch up your prayer life to stick to a routine in May, don’t wait until the beginning of the year to start doing it. If it is something good, there’s no point in waiting – just do it!

Life is too short to wait for a particular time of year for something good to happen. Once the motivation is in the air though, it would be wise to not let it pass but instead, take advantage of it and think about our life, about those we love and how we can love people better. We can take this transitional time to figure out what we want in life, who we are and if what we are doing brings us peace and joy in our heart.

During the Christmas to New Year’s period, I invite you to take this thought in prayer and ask God to give you a word and/or bible verse to keep in mind for the rest of the year to give you the courage to go through the struggles and a hope to cling to through the chaos our heart will inevitably go through.

Heavenly Father, as we start this New Year, I want to thank you for the experiences, memories and moments of the past year that have brought me closer to You, for the struggles that have made me stronger and for the hope You give me for the future. I offer up the year to You and ask You to bless me, protect me and guide me, as well as every person I meet. Teach me to be more like You.

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:30-31

Written by Sarah Zammit Munro