Write a New Year's IDEAL, Not a Resolution
In the field of fitness, there is a category of exercise that focuses on the core muscles of the body. These muscles are more important and centered in the body. When those are appropriately strengthened, the entire physical body functions better.
When we think of traditional New Years Resolutions, most often it has to do with improving health, wealth, or relationships. We often do not dig deep to come up with our new goal, and they most often get lost in the bustle after some gallant weeks of effort.
But, the last few years have given pause, to many people, regarding the course of their lives. Many people have given their beliefs, and philosophy of life, a thorough evaluation in coming to terms with major health decisions that everyone has faced. It is a lot like the process of beating the carpet, which was the only method of cleaning that floor covering in the 19th Century.
For many of us, it was the first time we have picked up our moral carpet, and given it a good shake, to remove that dirt that had been accumulating, perhaps for a lifetime. We have become aware that we are guided by a moral/spiritual line which determines our course of action. This is your Ideal! This is a Spiritual Motivating factor in our lives.
We have discovered a very important key in overcoming habits, and becoming better men and women. We can see that we have a spiritual core set of muscles, that we had never known before. So, I am inviting you to write your Ideal, or what statement is the governing force in your life. It would pay to consider, why do you have a spiritual core, if that has never crossed your mind before. The answer, for me, is that there is a God in Heaven, and these spiritual core muscles are in me because I am a part of His creation.
To truly activate this new understanding, we would be well served to write down what our Ideal will be for 2023. What motivating source do you want to solidify, that will improve every area of your life. Because it is founded in your spiritual center, you have an inborn motivation to not let it slide, or lose focus as we do when we choose something of a more surface nature.
One example of an Ideal is: “I will strive to govern my thoughts and actions according to the pattern Jesus set.” Or, more specific: “I will remember that my body is a temple, and treat it according to God’s word.” What you think is powerful. If you focus your mind on living an Ideal, it will change not just one thing, but your entire physical and spiritual life. As a man thinketh, So is he.