new year – Angel Wheeler

It’s 2023.

Here are my thoughts on a new year.

You don’t need a new year to have a new start.

You don’t even need a new month or a Monday or tomorrow.

The very next moment is new. All you need is a decision to make a change. To shift. To switch. To shake it up. And then act.

If you’re waiting for a new year to set that goal or start that thing, or even stop that bad habit, well you’re in luck because it’s January 1. No excuses.

But just remember in the days to come, that change is in your grasp because of your thoughts and your actions not because of your calendar. It’s available anytime you’re ready. Change is waiting on you while you wait on the perfect time. Which is probably now.

I’ve chosen 2 words this year to focus on. Trust and anchor. I need to be still (anchor). I need to anchor myself in Jesus and not be so flighty based on my circumstances or even my ever changing mood. Stable. Steady. Steadfast. Still.

And while I’m still, I need to trust in Jesus and that all of this is His plan and His plan for me is good. Trust that He who began a good work in me will see it to completion. Trust that He’s there even when I don’t feel it. Trust that He’s working even when I don’t see it. Trust that better days are coming. Trust that it’s all going to be ok.

Anchor + trust where I am is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Happy 2023.

I can’t believe we still don’t have flying cars.

My New Year Wish For You (and me)

Even though we’re already three days into the New Year, I still want to send a wish your way. Of course, a new year is not necessary for a new mindset. We can begin every new day or even every new moment. We’ve never been here before. Let’s start now.

I’m excited about this new year of 2020. There’s a stirring inside me that I can’t quite explain. But it’s time. Really. It’s time. I’ve wasted so much time. Without regrets and with only lessons, I move forward.

This year feels so promising to me because of the numbers. You can look at many sites to get the meaning of the number 2020, but this is the one I liked best: the number 2 represents relationships, intuition, and purpose of life. The number zero represents spiritual growth, its journey, life cycles, and connection to the spiritual world. When you see numbers repeated like in 2020, the meaning is amplified. Two zeroes means you’re about to enter a new chapter in your life. And if you don’t believe the idea of numerology, surely you believe your facebook quizzes. They all say change is coming too 🙂

So entering this new chapter, new year, new day, new moment, right here where we are, may you first realize how very far you’ve come. Don’t look back, and if you do, only look back to see where you were. Appreciate where you are now.

May you increase your faith in yourself and your abilities to do what you’ve been afraid to do. The treasures lie deep within you. You are the one that has to discover them, dig them out, brush them off, polish them up, and let them shine for others to see.

May you step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Is it scary? Sure it is. It’s terrifying. But what if it’s your calling and you’ve been pushing it aside for too long. Find the courage. You are brave. Remember that courage that lives inside you? It’s still there.

Break an old habit that’s not serving you. Just stop.

Open your heart. It is stronger than you believe it to be. It’s been broken. I know that, but it can heal and it will heal. It has so much love to offer if you’ll only let it. Don’t miss out on the love that is yours to receive when you open it up as well.

Slow down, don’t be in a big rush to get to nowhere. Enjoy the moment you’ve been given. This moment, right here. Look around. It’s all yours. Find the good in it.

Forgive yourself and everyone else–in that way you are liberating yourself. Release it. Let it go. Leave it behind. Don’t look back.

Be kind, always. But mostly, be kind to yourself. You are loved. ~2020

Word.

Two years ago, around this same time, there was some kind of hype going on about not making any resolutions for the new year, but instead choosing a word that you would make your word for the year. I don’t know, something like relax, or faith, or growth. My friend brought it to my attention. She chose the word BREATHE, so I thought, what the heck.

I chose the word CREATE. I wanted nothing less to create wonderful writings. Also to create some interesting crafts, grow a great garden, create a home from a real dump we were living in. It’s funny how things work. What I ended up creating is sleeping next to me right now, curled into a little ball, her little Clifford binky lying beside her. It makes me smile thinking of it. The irony.

This year, my friend’s word is RELEASE and her husband is playing along. His word is HUMILITY.

2013 was good to me. We moved away and that was hard. It still is, but overall the year was good. This year, I’ve made a few resolutions and I’ve also chosen a word. My resolutions are more like goals and my word is DILIGENCE. I must have diligence in order to accomplish my goals. My focus for this year 2014 is going to be writing and my health, aka my dress size.

When I was teaching school, there were two things we did that I pretty much hated to do, but were necessary for success.

The number 1) we kept a planner of what each day’s lessons were.

and number 2) we made goals for the kids.

We looked at where they needed to be at the END, and we set SMART goals.

specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.

The resolutions of “I’ll lose weight, I’ll study the Bible more, I’ll exercise” are too generic. They are more like hopes and wishes with no action plan in place.

“I’ll lose weight” needs to have a measurable amount, how much weight are you wanting to lose? It needs to be attainable, not 100 pounds before summer. It needs to measured (by a scale or measuring tape) and it needs a deadline.

A better way to state the goal is: “I will weigh X pounds by March 1.”

That goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. Then on March 1, evaluate your progress and set a new goal.

Now, wake up everybody! I know that was boring, but it was necessary. I like setting goals and the truth is, I can usually attain whatever I’m after if I have the written goal and a plan of action. So, after that lesson in goal setting, I give you mine.

GOAL #1–My Body:

– lose 16 pounds by March 10, my 39th birthday.

How: Incorporate a clean eating meal plan that I’ve already gathered. Spend each Sunday doing meal prep for the week for breakfast and lunch. And exercise to my home video Slim in 6 4 days a week, alternating days.

I’ll be following this Clean eating plan for the first 14 days with some modifications.

http://www.blessthismessplease.com/2012/11/eating-clean-2-week-plan.html?showComment=1352329785873

GOAL #2—My Mind:

Write!

How: 1)Blog once a week or more (every Tuesday). 2)Write one Helium article per week. 3) Finish a book I’m working on by March 31st. In order to do that I need to write a minimum of 1000 words a week 4 days a week.

Read!

How: Read at least one book every month—-12 books by year’s end.

GOAL #3—-My Spirit:

Maintain a positive attitude and practice gratitude.

How: Continue writing in my gratitude journal. Make 3-5 entries every night.

GOAL #4—-My Soul:

Grow my faith in Jesus.

How: Spend at least 10 minutes daily in Bible reading, journaling and prayer. Memorize the Book of Colossians following the plan for memorizing 2 verses a week, following this schedule:

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/01/the-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-bible-memorization-habit-1-for-a-new-year/

Yes this is a lot, I am no dummy. And quite honestly, I didn’t want to post them. I thought to myself that I would just keep them written down for only my eyes to see, but there I go losing ALL accountability.

So I share them with you all, my friends, who I know will be rooting for me. It will take DILIGENCE on my part. And one more small little thing called FOCUS. So in order to focus more on my goals, I am erasing distractions from my life, the number one distraction being facebook. I will be deleting FB from my phone, and only allowing myself to get on fb from my computer, which I don’t use nearly as much as my phone.

2014 will be my year!!!

Bring it!

Oh, yeah……forgot to mention. I’m starting next week. I’m away from home and although it may sound like an excuse, it’s a better guarantee for success for me to be at home.

How about you? Resolutions? Or a word? Or both?

Share with me if you’d like.

Happy New Year!!!

Change and Creation—my year in review

I’m three days late, but I wanted to take some time and reflect on the year 2011. It’s long gone now, but still deserves some time of remembrance. Any blogger worth their weight in blogging ability has already accomplished this feat, however, it’s me we’re talking about here.

I began this post a couple of days ago with the best of intentions, but I was (and still am) having trouble getting my thoughts nailed down to make it coherent, but alas, I’ll try.

I’m experiencing mixed emotions about the new year, and about saying good-bye to the old. This is a new phenomenon for me. I usually wake up on January first of whatever year it happens to be, and go about my usual life. Just another day. But this January 1st, 2012, I found myself at a crossroads. There’s a song by the Bellamy Brothers where one line says, “he’s an old hippie and he don’t know what to do, should he hang on to the old, should he grab on to the new.” Oh how I can relate.

Last January there was a movement if you will, instead of resolutions, choose a word for the year. A word that will define you. A word that you will focus on during the year. Like hope or faith or happiness or fitness. My friend Suzanne asked me what my word was. I took a while to think, and finally I chose the word create. I wanted to create great writing. I wanted to create a home for J-Dub and myself in our new country dump, I wanted to create a wonderful garden, a chicken coop, so many new things.

How little did I know that with creation comes change or perhaps change begets creation. But I can look back now and affirm, create was my word.

We lost my dad to a heart attack in February and I began to create a life of only memories. Whether through facebook or blog comments or email or phone calls, we spoke daily. I’m thankful for technology, for through that our relationship grew closer and we knew each other better than ever. Creating a new life without him has been hard for me.

Less than a month after burying my dad, J-Dub and I packed our horse trailer with boxes and furniture and moved to a place outside of town. A place that needed (and still does) a lot of work. We had spent the previous winter attempting to create a home for ourselves along with a plethora of mistakes, problems and money that come with home improvements. Moving is life changing and not knowing where the dadgum lightbulbs are kept is more than irritating. Shortly after moving in, like 4 days, I got a box of little chicks in the mail and my life was changed forever! I spent the spring and summer, raising those babies and adjusting to the country life with snakes in the front yard, water wells breaking, drought, wild fires and wind. And with wind, lots and lots of dust.

In May, I felt like I was losing my ever loving mind. I believed Satan had come in and taken control of my body. I felt like a raging lunatic, and then while on a trip visiting my dad’s grave for Memorial Day weekend, I discovered the cause of my angst. I was pregnant. So the summer was spent in shock and adjustment. And the fall was spent in shock and adjustment. And now that we are three weeks away from giving birth, I’m still in disbelief and adjusting. Someone told me in a comment on this blog that God gives us nine months to prepare for childbirth. I’m here to tell you, I probably could be a pretty good elephant because nine months isn’t enough time for me.

Although I desired to create great writing, and a wonderful home, and new and beautiful things in 2011, I never would have fathomed that I would create a daughter. What a change. What a creation. What a scary experience.

Plans for building a new fence and putting up a barn were replaced with painting a nursery and choosing a name. A whole new dimension has been added to my life. God has given me a great task. He has chosen me to be the mother of a little girl who I worry I won’t do right by.

With this great task ahead, I find myself fearing the new year. Afraid of what it holds. I find myself walking by sight rather than faith, fearful of the next step. And the one after that. And the one after that.

My 2011 was a year of adjustment. Lots of changes took place, the kind of changes that rate high up on the stress level list. So why don’t I want to move on? As I ponder, I decide it must be the familiarity of the old and the fear of the new. I am embarking on this new year, expecting more changes and I’m frightened that the struggles I faced in 2011 will follow me into the new year.

I’ve been weepy the last two days and it appears this day is no different. My present prayer is that my sorrow will be turned to joy, my worry will be changed to rejoicing.

Like the old hippie, should I hang on to the old or should I grab onto the new?

If I look to the scriptures, I am instructed to remember the days of old, remember what God has done for me, how He has carried me through, and then press forward to what is ahead, walk by faith, finish the race, and trust in the Lord.

Hang on or grab onto? I’ll try to do both.

And so I go.

Happy 2012.