Through the Lens of a 12-year Old

...I really hate it when you do that" mum finished off in an exasperated tone as she marched upstairs. "What now my dear?" Dad followed swiftly behind her in an attempt to pacify her. It was too late, mum had gotten to her room, slammed the door and locked it. Dad was about to yell, but then he turned around and saw me, tears rolling down my cheeks. He ran to me, hugged me tightly and kept apologising.

See, this had been the scene in my house for as long as I could remember. My parents were always at each other's throats. My mum always seemed to complain about everything, dad could never do right as far as she was concerned, she would even tell me hurtful stories about dad, just to get me on her side. But the 12 year old me, knew better. The problem wasn't dad. It was her.

New Year? What Changes?

Happy new year people!!! And welcome to my first blog post of the year.

Is it just me that refused to tweet, instagram or Facebook anything about Christmas or new year? I felt all the generic greetings were so cliche, so I decided against it. I should have done something innovative rather than just leave it, right? Anyway, let's get straight into the reason for this post.

Alright, we get it, it's 2014, it's a new year, a new dawn, a new season and so on and so forth, but does that automatically mean everything is going to change for you? Certainly not! I'm really sorry that I had to be the one to break the news to you, but oh well someone had to do it. The new year is only going to be as good as you make it. The key word here being what YOU make of it.

There's a saying that goes something like 'it's foolishness to do something continually and expect a different result' and I have to say, it's so true. You have to make the change you want, change doesn't just happen, it is made. It takes effort, determination, perseverance and much more than just wishful thinking. For example, if you say you want to get your drivers' licence this year, do you just sit in your house day in, day out hoping the postman will drop it the letter box? No. You have driving lessons, you book a test and you take the driving test or tests as the case may be (lol). 

My point is this, you have to take steps to achieve those dreams, goals and aspirations. You really didn't have to wait till 1st January to make those resolutions. You might as well have made them on 3rd September, 25th December or any other day for that matter. But now that you've waited till January, bring those dreams and aspirations alive. You really can achieve whatever you want to, with God's help of course (Philippians 4:13). Make 2014 different from every other year you've had. Commit ALL your ways into His able hands (Proverbs 3:5-6).

You know what I would like you to do? Scrap the goals you've written down (if you have) and if you haven't good for you; instead prayerfully seek His face and write down goals you want to achieve this year. Make sure it aligns with what He wants you to do this year. They could be Spiritual, career, academic, financial, personal or whatever. Make sure they are SMART.

S- Specific- I will study the bible in one year (not, I want to grow in my knowledge of God)

M- Measurable- By 31st March, I will have won 10 souls to His kingdom (not I want to win souls to His kingdom)

A- Achievable- I want to become a UK size 6 by end of January even though I'm a size 20 at the moment (you might as well be saying you want to fall sick..lol)

R- Realistic/Relevant- The example above could fall into this category as well

T- Time-bound- Well by virtue of having them as goals for 2014, they are somewhat time-bound.

As I wrote this, I realised that my goals for 2014 were not very SMART. So I will make changes where necessary :)

One more thing, review them periodically. Don't leave it till 31 December before you conduct a performance review, cos by then, it will be too late to make any changes.

Wishing you a splendid 2014! And keep me informed as to how you get on with your goal-setting.

xx