Y’all really seemed to like last week’s post on outgrowing things.

So this week, I want to extend the conversation in a weird way.

Let’s press the fast forward button.

Skip ahead.  To the end of December.

Picture yourself in time and place five months from now.

Think of all the stress and pleasures of the holiday season.

The traditions.

The recipes.

The weather.

The presents.

Are you there with me?  Good.

Let’s get to the good stuff.

Those darn resolutions

So imagine December.  There it is.

And notice how many New Year’s resolutions articles are in your Facebook feed.

And pretend for a minute that you are reflecting back on the past year with satisfaction.

Picture yourself in dialogue with a dear friend, a loved one, in this particular December.

Imagine yourself saying, “You know, I’m so glad I started doing ______________.  Things are so much better since I did that.”

What did you fill in the blank?

What things are you putting off doing?

Or what things are finding themselves crowded out of your schedule?

Might be something you like doing, but don’t think you have time for.

Or it might be something you’re apprehensive about, but feel you should do.

Could be something you hate.

That’s fine.  Just notice what you put in the blank.

Now do the reverse.

Imagine yourself saying, “I’m really glad I stopped doing _______________.  Life has been so much easier since I quit.”

What went in that blank?

Was it hard or easy to fill in these blanks?  Or did something immediately jump to mind?

The challenging part

You’ve bothered to take a moment today to reflect on this.

You’ve put together a little piece of clarity about your priorities.

The real question is: will your let your life be informed by this clarity?

Or will you sweep it under the rug?

My challenge to you is this:  pick one thing.

From either list—the things to stop, or the things to start—and try it today.

Just today.

I know that doing it once isn’t enough to make it a habit.

In fact, some really neat research shows it takes quite a bit longer.  30 days, in fact.

But we all have to start somewhere, don’t we?

And maybe you’ll surprise yourself and find you have time/space/room in your life for it after all.

So imagine December.

Picture it.

Think of how it would feel to say to yourself, “You know, I’m so glad I started this all back in August.”

Well, guess what?

It’s still August.

And you still have a chance.

Will you take it?