Why Resolutions?

I have wondered over the past few days, "why do I do New Year's resolutions and when I did I get started?" I have to admit that the answer to the latter question is quite foggy, I but I do know the answer to the former.

I have learned quite a bit in the past few years about goal setting. It used to be that I would set a lofty goal. One that was attainable...maybe. I would set a goal that gave me no room for mistakes. At all. For example? "I will exercise everyday for at least 60 minutes." Is that an accomplishable goal? Sure. For me? No way. If I had taken that goal and tweaked it just a little, I would have saved myself from failure. Rather than 60 minutes everyday- changing the goal to 30 minutes everyday or 60 minutes every other day would have been more reasonable.

Because I have learned this about myself, I now set goals that have an end point, a finish line.
Plus, I have chosen weaknesses that I would like to make strong.
Julie B. Beck states, "When our best efforts are not quite enough, it is through His grace that we receive the strength to keep trying. The Lord says: 'If men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses that they may be made humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Having a resolution to change a  small thing about myself each year brings me hope. It sets my gospel roots deeper.

Regardless of the goal set, it builds your spirit. Temporal and spiritual things have no separation. We are a soul and a body in the same experience. I am grateful for my opportunity to change. It brings me great joy to progress. With that growth does bring pain. Growing pains are not a myth. They are not just a term used to explain a child's leg cramps. Those pains are real in the spiritual sense. I feel like the pain is worth the growth. I hope that the weaknesses I have chosen to change this year will become my strengths. I hope that my my reliance on the Lord will be whole. That humility will abound so I can be stronger.

Resolutions are such a innate desire. My hope for us all is that we do not quell the desire; that we feed those righteous desires wholeheartedly. I am excited about the prospect and hope you are too.