Everyday Resolutions
We’re officially into the New Year.
Just one week ago, across the world, everyone was setting their sights on a new calendar and a new self. After all, New Year’s Eve is the one night that produces dreamers and world changers more than any other day of the year.
Many said with gumption, “this will be my year!” and they readied themselves to shed any regrets of failed goals from the year before. It was a magical moment because we entered a world of others who also wanted to make a new year a better year—to better ourselves and to better the world around us. And we promised ourselves it would be so by the penned resolutions and timelines that gave us that glimmer of hope we may have lost before.
Isn’t it incredible that one second was all that separated us from who we were and who we wanted to be? When the clock struck midnight we bid farewell to all of the things we did and didn’t do in the previous year. We were suddenly the person we always dreamed we’d be. And began checking off our long lists of steps to take to ensure we could become that person. To ensure we could be made new. It’s an annual obsession because deep down we all want to be our best selves. This isn’t just cultural. This is Catholic. And while many have already given up on those New Year resolutions just one week in, God asks us to keep trying.
The Church has been teaching self-reflection and introspection for centuries, knowing it is a sure path to Heaven. Think reconciliation. We take a personal, interior inventory of where we have failed, where we have not been our best, and then we resolve to be better and try something new as we reconcile our hearts to God, receiving his mercy. And we are sure that with Christ we can do all things, even that thing we never thought we could do. Like combat a sin, or change the course of our lives by changing our daily habits.
The Catechism says exactly what every heart does at the start of a new year, even if they don’t know it: It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination or introspection: Return to your conscience, question it. . . . Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness. CCC 1179
We create resolutions because after the busyness of the year, we finally take pause and reflect. We momentarily stop the distractions and think about where we’ve come and gone and where we want to go next. We get caught up in the possibilities. It’s exciting and thrilling as it should be! A new calendar and year promises us one thing: a fresh start, a clean slate. And isn’t this what God is offering us every day? Every time we return to Him.
But we don’t always look at our resolutions with God in mind. Often times we’re just looking at the exterior. I want to lose more weight, I want to finally run that marathon. I want to finally write that book. Or see that town. Get that dream job. Or save more money. These aren’t bad things. They can be good….very good. But, the root of them is the key. Whatever it is, if it’s not rooted in Christ, it often times fails or leaves us emptier than when we began the quest. Truly, there is no place, person, profession, or possession that can ever take the place of God in our lives.
I remember when I used to view my weight loss as a necessity for self-worth. I thought that I would never be good enough unless I weighed a certain amount or wore a certain size. It wasn’t until I became a mother to two young girls that I realized I ultimately just wanted to be healthy and love my body as God designed it. I wanted to properly fuel my body for energy and work out because I loved my body not because I hated it. And more importantly I wanted to teach my children these things. The desire to lose weight was originally rooted in something that was superficial, and of course, every time I jumped on that resolution, it failed. And I won’t even tell you the embarrassing number of times I did just that.
It wasn’t until I discovered the true reason I wanted to lose weight. It was genuinely to care for the body God gave me and to recognize how much better I felt taking care of it out of love not hate. When I discovered the real root, the changes I made were lasting. And guess what? I didn’t discover this on New Year’s Eve. It was sometime mid-July many years ago.
I challenge you today to think about the newness that awaits you every day when you enter a conversation with Christ, when you root your resolutions in him, and especially when you go to confession. It’s the clean slate you’ve been waiting for, and as Catholics it’s available to us at our local parishes every week. What are we waiting for? January 1 st to roll around again?
Make haste and be made new. The time is now.
Meet Eileen Perez
Eileen Perez is a joy seeker in the everyday and mundane and lover of all things Jesus. She loves to sip cold brew, try a million Whole30 recipes, cry over everything (good and bad), talk about Dave Ramsey, and read as much as possible. When she’s not doing those things, she’s chasing after her little ones alongside her husband or spending time talking about Jesus at work as a high school Campus Minister. If you want to see a hodgepodge of non-perfected posts from a modern day working Catholic mom, who will never get the lighting right for a photo, follow her on Instagram @franciseileenperez.