Friday, January 01, 2010

New Year! – New You!

Many years ago I read the story of the old man of the mountains that was reputed to be the wisest man alive. People would come from all around, and pose their questions and problems, and without fail, he would have the right answer to their questions and the solutions to their problems.

One day two young men decided that they were going to trick the old man and prove to everyone that he wasn’t the wisest man around. So one of the young men caught a little bird and held it in his hands. As they approached the old man, the one holding the bird said, “Old man, I hold in my hand a little bird. Is it dead, or is it alive?”

They were convinced regardless of how the old man answered he would be wrong. If he said the bird was dead, he would simply open his hands and let the little bird fly away. If he said the bird was alive he would squeeze the little bird to death and open his hands to show the old man a dead bird. Thus they would prove the old man to be wrong either way.

The old man just stood there silently considering the question. After further prodding from the young men, the old man replied, “It is as you will.” In other words he realized the power of life or death for the little bird was in their hands. It was their decision whether the bird lived or died.

So it is with your life. You, and you alone, are the determining factor as to whether your life will be better or worse in 2010 than it was in 2009. You hold in your hands the keys to living a rewarding, abundant, joy filled, and successful life. 2010 can be the greatest year of your life or it can be the worst. The choice is yours.

You can squeeze the victory and joy out of it by refusing to grow. By not being willing to make positive changes in your life. By wallowing in self-pity and discouragement. By joining the ranks of the critical, cynical, and complaining. By paying attention to the negative, bad news reports, of the media or those around you. By living in the past. By blaming everyone and everything for your mistakes and shortcomings. By living in a realm of fear, worry, doubt, and apprehension.

Or, you can live a rewarding, abundant, joy filled, and successful life, by opening up to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new ways of doing things. You can determine today to set new goals for this year and work diligently towards seeing them become a reality. You can choose today to forget the past, after all, there’s nothing you can do to change it anyways. You can make the decision to open up to hope and faith and see God’s hand of favor and blessing released in your life. “It is as you will.”

Throughout this year I will be sharing with you keys and principles for living that will radically change your life for the good, if you will apply them to your life. If you are serious about becoming a new you in 2010, be sure to subscribe to this blog, and read it on a daily basis. Pass it on to friends who also desire to become a new person. Lastly, make it a habit to not only read the blog, but to also do the action steps. Knowledge alone is not very powerful. However, knowledge with action produces powerful, life changing results!

Action steps:

1. Write out what changes in yourself you desire to see this year.

2. Are you satisfied with the where you are in life right now? (Whether, Spiritually, Physically, Mentally, Relationally, Vocationally, or Financially.)

3. If not what areas are of most concern to you right now?

4. What are you going to do to better yourself in 2010?