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If you were around last year, I talked about the importance of being.
Being present.
Being happier.
Being better.
Normally, we create New Year’s Resolutions. We write down a list of things that we need to do better: eat more good food, spend more time exercising, fill-in-the-blank with whatever you’d like. But, once we slip up once, we concede to giving up and trying again later. So, New Year’s Resolution’s tend to fall off the face of the earth by mid-January.
As the year came to a close and there was talk of a new year, a new decade, and a “new me”, I wondered what in the world that would look like in my life.
Throughout 2019, I often heard a quote from President Russell M. Nelson. It reads, “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”
As I thought through what my word for 2020 would be, this quote stuck in my head. Focus. What an interesting idea. So, I chose it for my 2020 word.
FOCUS.
In this world, there are so many things that demand our attention. School, family, work, church. Whatever they may be, there are lots of things on our plate, no matter how hard to try to delegate and say “no.”
President Nelson’s quote focuses on the importance of where we place our focus. In that, we will find our joy. Everyone has circumstances that we aren’t aware of, just as we have things going on that no one else knows about.
Our circumstances won’t always be wonderful. Sometimes we will be going through hard times. Sometimes those hard times will seem to last forever. But, as we shift our FOCUS to what matters most, we are more likely to find joy in our lives. That doesn’t mean every day will be perfect, but there will be good things about every day. We just need to find them.
There’s something about starting a new year and having a fresh start. It feels like the slate is clean and there are so many things that you can do. So get out there and do them. And if you mess up, don’t give up. Keep going. No new habits were built on perfection.
Most of all, in this new year, I invite you to truly FOCUS on what matters most to you. Think of those things that you want to invest time in and let the less important things go. It’s likely that you won’t even miss the things you let go of. And you’ll probably notice more joy around you.
Happy New Year! May you accomplish all the things that matter most in this new year.
