Looking Forward to the New Year

Well, to say 2020 has been a year to remember would be a huge understatement Maybe we would be better saying it would be a good year to forget. We all feel the same sentiment and for various reasons. We have given up so much of what we used to take for granted, all for the sake of preventing a viral spread. Some have gone to huge extremes to prevent giving or getting, others have tried to maintain some type of normalacy. I am not here to judge either choice, I just recognize the two extremes (or more) that exist. But, that is not the subject for this entry. The subject is, the future. What is next? What is a plan? Last year I put a challenge out to have several people join me in reading through the Bible in the year using the plan that I have used the last several years. Well, like most things in 2020, not many stuck with the plan and completed it. Maybe 2021 will be your year?!?! I will be putting the challenge out again soon. If 2020 taught us nothing else, it did teach us that we have plenty of time to read the Bible for 20-30 minutes a day. Perhaps the reason we are going through all of this was to get us to prioritize our time and do this. Feeling guilty for not doing this? Good. I want you to. If that is a driving force that works for you, then I am sending it all to you. Please get on board with this plan (or one of your own) of spending time daily in reading the Word and filling your mind with good things. This is the best thing you can fill your mind with. But, now, on to my 2021 plan. This came to me very recently and if I don't record it and make myself accountable to someone, I may not succeed. Or, perhaps I won't even remember that I had a plan. I have been working hard at filling my mind with good things, finding books about better nutrition and making good choices in life. There is a lot of other noise that I am trying hard to quiet so that my mind is not filled with damaging thoughts. I had read the book, "Switch On Your Brain" by Dr. Caroline Leaf over a year ago. At the end of the book she offers a 21 day detox plan. I didn't do it at the time I originally read the book. I procrastinated on that in order to do it at time that I was really ready to take on the challenge. Well, unfortanately, my procrastination turned into a complete forgetting that I was going to someday do it. Lately I have listened to several "experts" on health and periodically Dr. Leaf is either mentioned or a guest speaker. Then, there arrives a podcast hosted by her also. With all of this new exposure, I pulled out my book and decided I really do need to jump in and do the exercises she suggests. One of the guest she had on her podcast talked about having an attitude of graditude. (I hate rhyming phrases-I think they are hokey) He said that he had interviewed some people who were successful and at peace and their bottom line was daily finding something to be grateful for. So, here I am, step one, read and complete the 21 day detox plan. Step 2- daily find something to be truly grateful for.(I am going to record them) My step 3 is something that came to me just this week while visiting with my oldest living relative. My aunt Phyllis showed me a book she had near her on her kitchen table and it was just a simple planner in which she recorded what happened each day. Not every day had an entry, but many did. As I looked at her entries, I felt challenged to do the same. I have relied on my memory for most of my life and not really ever recorded things. I had been acused by my late husband of having too good of a memory for unimportant details. Well, I am going to give up on trusting my own memory and start doing like Aunty Phyllis and record each day what it is that was significant (or not) for that day. So, there you have it. My plan. Now, on this date next year, hopefully I can look back and see that I accomplished my goal.