Doing The Next Right Thing

Happy New Year!

I know, we’re days into 2019, but I seem to be a slow-starter this year. It still feels like the new year just began, even though we’re well on our way on its path.

But, there’s just something about a fresh start, a clean slate, a new year. It’s a great time to start over, begin afresh, or try something new. It’s an opportune time to form new and positive habits, to be intentional about personal growth, or to fine-tune an area of life.

A new year is refreshing, exciting, and filled with countless opportunities.

But, it also can be intimidating, nerve-wracking, and a bit unsettling.

Roll with me here…

It’s Day 11 of 2019, and I’ve not set a goal. (Gasp!) I haven’t stepped foot on our treadmill nor lifted one weight yet in this new year. I ate two handfuls of chocolate-covered almonds yesterday. (They were delicious, mind you.) My dining room table is just as cluttered this morning as it was on December 28. Our home still dons its outside Christmas decor. I haven’t read my Bible yet today.

I look at this list in real-life. This is where I am. Today, on January 11.

Maybe your year has begun a little like mine. Maybe your list looks similar. Chocolate-covered almonds and all. And, it’s possible you’ve experienced some of the same twinges I’ve had. The twinges of failure, of frustration, of falsehood… eleven days into what’s supposed to be a new, a better, a this-will-be-my-best-year, kind of year.

Can we just pause right here?

What ever gave us the perception that in starting a new year we had to do it perfectly? With big goals and monumental resolutions tucked neatly in our shiny, new planners? With goal posters and inspirational quotes strategically placed throughout our homes? Or with exercising perfectly, or eating perfectly, or whatever perfectly?

Just because we may not have started this new year in the way the world tells us to, or in the way we originally desired, we’ve started it, nonetheless. That right there is something to celebrate.

Instead of getting all caught up in what we haven’t done–or haven’t done perfectly–so far, how about if we simply focus on celebrating this new year by doing the next right thing?

Doing the next right thing is a powerful way to begin 2019.

It’s a powerful way to live daily life.

Waking in the morning we can ask ourselves, what’s the next right thing I can do this morning? Choosing our lunch as we ask the same question might influence our choices of what we put in our bodies. Asking, what’s the next right thing?, might aid us in our decision making. And, it could just be the words that prompt transformation in our lives in this new year.

Doing the next right thing brings joy, a sense of accomplishment, and gives us opportunities to grow. It simplifies the complicated, it points us in the right direction, and it may even relieve some of the stress we tend to put on ourselves. Isn’t that what most of us desire in the new year, anyway?

Simply do the next right thing.

Friend, give yourself some grace. No matter how 2019 has begun, today’s a new day. With fresh opportunities and new experiences. It’s a gift we can open with great joy and share it with those around us.

Even if we choose two handfuls of chocolate-covered almonds. And, my friend, sometimes that is the next right thing.

In this moment what is your next right thing? I’m cheering you on in this new year! Thanks for journeying with me.

Blessings,