Year In Review

Good-bye 2016...hello 2017!  This year has come and gone in a blink of an eye.  How did this year treat me?  Or, better yet, how did I treat the year?  A lot of changes have come and gone, and I believe they were handled well.  Of course decisions could have been better made, responses to instead of reactions against circumstances as they happened.  One growth area to capitalize on is letting go of resentments, for they spoil the beauty and blessing of the moment.  Sour life experiences spoil the present as I think of how life could have been or life as I would have preferred to unfold according to my plan.  However, that is exactly what entails this thing called life.  Does it ever come to fruition as anyone plans or hopes for?  For many, the answer may be, "Somewhat!" or "Kind of...".  Whatever my life may look like now versus the Utopian I wanted is irrelevant.  From here on out, what counts is the challenge to make the best of the life I currently have.  Hopefully this isn't the sorrowful outlook of a pilgrim living in resignation.  One lesson learned this year is I still have to engage life, however that may look.  When I do refuse to give up, to continue taking each day given, I find life isn't as bad as I think it is.  Yes, I don't like certain aspects of my circumstances, but if I keep plodding forward, the future may unfold in to some semblance of a trajectory I formerly desired.  Happiness and joy come from within, the well-spring of the heart and soul that only a relationship with the living Lord Jesus can provide.  I am still not perfect, with many faults and failings, but I can keep hiking this path of life till the gates of Heaven invite me in on that last day.  Hello 2017!  I am ready to see what happens this next new year.

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