Raise your hand if you have already broken your New Year resolution? Hear me, you are not alone. Only 8% of people actually see their way through those goals and I truly believe it's because of the goal itself. Or they are an Avenger and we just don't know it.
I have failed miserably at resolutions in the past. For example: stop biting my nails, stop being on my phone, eat the perfect diet, etc. etc.
The only resolution I have ever seen through was the one I made last year. Weird right? 2020 had me in that 8% Avenger category. But it wasn't will power or a perfect routine that got me there, it was the actual "resolution" itself. I wanted a deeper relationship with Jesus and that's what I got.
I realize now that my success came because I did NOT structure, plan, or perfect my goal. I simply LIVED in the rhythm of wanting a relationship and it came.
So I'm here asking you WHAT your goal was and if you can change it from a routine-with the all or nothing mentality-to a rhythm that ebbs and flows?
You see, I'm an all or nothing girl. 110% effort or failure. Sounds lovely, right? But as my relationship with Christ got deeper, the more my identity shifted. His grace covered me in a way that no structured plan or routine could. The desire to be perfect and accomplished, transformed to the desire to be the best of version of myself-the imperfectly perfect woman God created me to be.
And that's why I love the idea of having more RHYTHM and less routine in my life. Rhythm allows grace, while routine brings me guilt. Rhythm allows that grey area when routine is black or white.
And if we learned anything from 2020, or the first 6 days of 2021, it's that life is grey. It's messy, it's unpredictable, and it's a rollercoaster that we ride through- sometimes kicking and screaming. So to me, making rhythms that are flexible, that can breathe, that can happen without rules or codes makes me more prone to do them.
The anxiety of perfection and accomplishment is gone and the flow of life is in.
Here are some routines I've had:
Eat a perfectly healthy diet
Exercise everyday
Read my Bible in the morning
Keep a clean home
Make sure all my work is done before a certain time
Check off every item on my to do list
And so on..
Here are those routines in a more manageable RHYTHM:
Add more veggies to what I eat and drink more water
Move your body daily, no matter if its a 5 minute stretch or a 30 minute run
Read your Bible in the morning, but if that doesn't happen its ok to read it in the afternoon or before bed.
If the laundry isn't done, thats ok-it'll be there tomorrow.
With homeschool and a baby, it's ok if my work takes me longer to complete.
Life is not perfectly organized to check off every item- Do what you can and move on with your mental and physical space.
See how that works? The perfect routine is never going to be long term. So my hope is that the RHYTHMS I'm embracing stop the all or nothing mentally, stop the cycles of perfection to failure, and instead give me a long term LIFESTYLE that is manageable through GRACE.
So this new year, go ahead and plan and structure if you wish BUT allow that grey to be tallied in. Remember that we live in the grey and in the grey there is grace.
Make rhythms instead of "have to" routines. Adapt to the flow of life instead of trying to control the actions and outcomes. I've learned that life is happier in the grey. That the heartbeat of my life isn't one sound, but many rhythms coming together.
Rhythm: more walks and less stress on the perfect workout routine
To hear more about reflecting on 2020 and what to bring with you into your resolution in 2021, listen to my podcast HERE
And here is a PDF I created to help you with a morning routine.
But again, take what you can turn into a rhythm and leave what does not serve you.
To download PDF click HERE
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