Push the button to reset your 2013 goals
When I’m in yoga class standing on one leg with my arms above my head and I wobble, I hear my instructor call out “reset”. What does reset mean? Merriam Webster defines it as to set again or anew. 
If you lose your balance in yoga, you reset. If you lose your balance in life, you can also reset.
We are now almost four weeks into 2013. How’s it going so far? We love to set goals and make resolutions and plan out calendars and workouts and vacations and to do lists when January 1st rolls round. But frequently we set goals and make plans that are out of our reach, below our capabilities or just plain silly. Sometimes we set awesome goals, but find excuses not to attain them. Sometimes life happens and our goals must change. Goals are important, critical to growth, actually. They’re how we get from here to there, but they are also fluid and need constant revising. For me, I’ll be celebrating Christmas on Ground Hog’s Day. That wasn’t the plan. It didn’t make any of my lists, but due to family medical emergencies, February is when we can all get together. RESET I am thrilled, giddy, honored, humbled and blessed to announce the first two books in my latest series will release in April. I didn’t know have this information on January 1. This exciting news changes all of my writing goals for the year. I need to focus on the release of those two titles. I need to shelve rewriting a novel I was working on and instead start writing the third book in this series. All fab stuff, but... RESET 
Blessed to share the book cover for my newest novel to release in April, It's Complicated.
How about you? Has anything happened to change your plans? If you’re an athlete an injury could switch you from developing new skills to rehabilitating. If your family is moving, you might change your focus from organizing your closet to how to decorate your new bedroom. Those 25 sit ups a day might be easier than you thought, or it might turn out it was taking on more than you could handle to assume you could practice your electric keyboard a whole hour every day.
How are you doing? Are you off balance? Have the wrong foot forward? Did something arise in your life that changes everything? Is something easier than you thought challenging you to push yourself harder? Are you facing the wrong direction? Or are you further ahead than planned? It's okay to change your original plan. RESET 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! I’d love to hear how you’re pushing the reset button and starting anew.
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 The glass pyramids imitating the outside of the Louvre, hallmarking the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. “I can begin again.” New Year’s Day by U2 I spent New Year’s Day 2013 soaking in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Barely visible amidst Elvis’ outlandish purple Cadillac with “EP” blazed on every seat cushion, tire and door (no lie), John Lennon’s neon green silk Sergeant Pepper’s uniform and Katy Perry’s memorable peppermint dress were my two favorite artifacts in the multi level, glass pyramid of a museum (a copy of the Louvre in Paris).  Elvis Presley's purple Cadillac My favorites weren’t bright or shiny or glitzy or even psychedelic, like all the items I believe rock stars own and save and cherish. They were small and flat and plain. They were rejection letters.  John Lennon's Sergeant Peppers uniform As a writer I get my share of rejection letters. You might think looking at others’ rejections would be torture. But, actually it’s the opposite. You see, these weren’t random rejection letters written to bands you’ve never heard of like Carl and the Crazies or the Keyboard Lizards, these were rejection letters written to U2. In 1979 RSO sent a letter to P. Hewson, Bono’s real name, stating the demo tape he mailed “titled U2 is not suitable for us at present". The letter was written on Bono’s 19th birthday. I hope he got a decent cake.  Katy Perry in her peppermint dress Around the same time Arista Records sent U2 a form rejection letter, the kind they sent to hundreds of bands with just a preprinted signature, and without details of why the band was being turned down. But those rejections did not make U2 quit. It gave them fodder to begin again. To make another tape, to send it to another label, to try again. One year later, Island Records signed U2. They went on to become one of the biggest selling bands in the world. Over 7.2 million fans attended U2’s 360 Tour, more than any other fans attending any other tour - ever. U2 has won more Grammy awards than any other band, ever. 22.  U2 the band with the most Grammy awards of any band, ever. But what if Bono and the boys had listened to RSO or Arista? What if they took those rejections as signs they didn’t have what it takes? That they weren’t good enough? That their sound wouldn’t resonate? That they should give up?
What hill are you climbing today? Who’s told you “no” recently? What roadblocks are you encountering? What if instead of listening to the negativity, you tried one more time – took the SAT or LSAT one more time to improve your score, auditioned for one more play, ran one more race, applied to one more internship or job, sent one more song to a record label? Hills are rarely easy to climb. Sometimes they reveal themselves as careening mountains. But the view from the top of the mountain is glorious. I waited patiently for the Lord He inclined and heard my cry He lift me up out of the pit Out of the miry clay I will sing, sing a new song Psalm 40 by King David and revamped by U2 in their song “40” What new song can you sing today? Where can you begin again? 
You can't measure your personal growth with a tape measure - so how can you measure your growth in the new year?
Remember a time when someone said that to you? It typically happens when you see family you haven’t seen for a while - like over the holidays. How about “you look so grown up!” And then you get spun around like a sweater off the rack at Nordstrom’s and feel like you’re on display for everyone in the room to examine your growth or grown-upedness. It used to make me uncomfortable with the sudden attention everyone turned to me, make me roll my eyes or look the down. But at some point I stopped growing, physically. And now, it’s rude for someone to say I look older or bigger. But I hope I haven’t stopped growing. I hope I never will. 
I want to speak French more fluently in 2013 - what are some of your goals?
In 2013 I want to grow. I want to grow so much it’s visible. I want to grow in my faith and in my writing. I want to speak French more fluently and learn some new healthy, tasty, not overly complicated recipes. I want to learn how to rock a killer headstand in yoga.  How do I start? Well, I just did. I wrote down some goals, some places in my life I want to grow. Next, I need to be more specific. How am I going to amp up my faith? What writing projects do I want to tackle in 2013? When do I want them to be completed? Who do I want to reach through them? How many recipes do I want to learn how to make each month? How much time a week am I able and willing to spend on my passé parfait? By when should I be able to do that headstand, and for how long should I be able to hold the pose? Now, the action. What can I do today, this week, before Christmas break is over to launch these plans for growing into reality? How about you?
Growing is an integral part of being. It is our way of getting closer to the best versions of ourselves. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. Philippians 1:6 God will start this work, but it’s our job to keep at it. How about you? Where would you like to grow in 2013? How are you going to tackle it? 
Girl listening to iPod in the grass with her earbuds in. What music will define your school year?
Happy New Year! I know the rest of the civilized world celebrates New Year’s on December 31, but December 31 means nothing to me. No major change occurs in my life in January.
The end of August, however, is full of change, excitement and potential. Ever since I was five it meant the beginning of a new school year; a new teacher, classrooms smelling of freshly cleaned desks, the potential of new friends, thick sweaters and stiff jeans hanging in my closet, the smell of sharpened pencils and new markers, more challenging dance steps in ballet, a piano book full of unlocked songs, the mega thick issue of Seventeen laden with the latest fall fashions, blank notebooks waiting to be stickered and doodled upon, and new music to celebrate and imprint this season of my life - the possibilities for the new school year were endless. They still are. In late August there’s a shift in the weather, in people’s dress (it’s almost boot season – hooray!), in our family’s schedule and routine. There is more structure, are more commitments, are more deadlines, but with those come more productivity, more possibilities and more excitement. And for me, new music. For every season in my life I have songs associated with it. There’s the New Order and Yaz we jammed to endlessly when I was on dance team. The deep, mystical lyrics of Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) and Bono (U2) resonated throughout my college years. Songs swaying from beautiful ballads to punchy political protests to boppy dance tunes. It was the stuff introspective, formative college years were made of. My writing has musical seasons too. Anytime I hear the strings and horns from Les Miserables they remind me of my character, Emma, in Angry. Anytime I hear Todd Agnew’s raspy voice I think of my book Hot, and the main character Lindsey. Jack Johnson reminds me of my friend and editor, Amy, as we both Pandora’d him simultaneously while she edited my book Skinny. There are songs that take me back to spring breaks and slumber parties and countries I’ve visited and even my wedding. Songs take me back to special friends, family members, trials and triumphs. Psalm 33:2-3 "Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." I’m eager to see the soundtrack God will lay for this school year. I’m currently riveted by bands ranging from Snow Patrol to Toby Mac to the powerful voice and lyrics of Holly Starr. Her songs encourage me to walk strong in God and remember He is always right beside me. This is a message I’ll carry in my virtual backpack as my new year commences. How about you? What musical memories strum your heartstrings? What songs will be on your playlist this year? 
Control. We all want it. We all strive for it. Whether it is
control over what grade we get in a class, what we eat for dinner, what projects we’ll be assigned at work, how a relationship will work, what channel we’re watching – we want to be able to call the shots, make the decisions, have a say in how and why and when. Today was the first snowfall of the year. I woke up to a majestic world frosted in pure white icing. With the beauty came the crisp, cold air, fresh and pure, seemingly cleansing my lungs as I stepped out of the garage and inhaled deeply. The drive uptown to fetch my morning coffee usually takes me five minutes, only three when the college students are gone for Christmas break. But this morning the roads were slick. Cars inched along the roads, even though the dusting of snow was barely an inch deep. I drove cautiously, in no hurry, nothing I had to rush to get to, taking in the spectacular scenery. A few minutes later, venti Italian roast with a shot of chocolate in hand, I got back in my car. I took a sip of the dark, rich warmth and turned the key. At the first stop sign my antilock brakes ground and squealed and crunched under my foot, but my car did not stop. I kept going right through the stop sign, even though I’d only been cruising at about seven miles an hour. Thankfully, our college town is all but deserted while the students are away, and no other cars were in sight. But, I didn’t stop. I wanted to stop. I tried to stop. I did all of the things I normally do to stop. And yet, my car didn’t stop. I was not in control. I whispered a prayer of thanks that there were no other cars around, that despite me driving through a stop sign no one was hurt. I then turned off the side road, back towards the main road, hoping for smoother sailing. But, as I turned, my car fishtailed, zigging and zagging across both lanes of the small street. Again, there were no cars in my way. No one was hurt. But, this was another strong reminder that I AM NOT IN CONTROL. As a new year begins, I always make a list of goals for the year – things I plan on working to accomplish in the upcoming 365 days. I know this is an important exercise. It is critical to be intentional on how I spend my time or else my time gets spent for me. It is helpful for me to look out twelve months to see the potential the year has, to think of ways I can stretch my faith, my mind, my body, my relationships, my writing in the coming year. Just like I need to have a full tank of gas, air in my tires, directions to where I’m going and the key to my car to make it go, I need a plan for my life and my time. I need to drive the speed limit, stay on the right side of the road, and step on the brake when there is a stop sign, or else there would be accidents. People would get hurt. There would be danger and chaos. God wants me to plan and work and strive as if it all depends on me. But, sometimes I step on the brake and I don’t stop. Sometimes, despite my lists and goals and plans, He has something else in mind. He needs me to remember, that in the end, it all depends on Him. |
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