2014's Theme

Each year, for many years now, as New Year's approaches I pause to reflect on the year that has passed and to ask God what He wants me to focus on in the coming year. Although this holiday season was filled with an unrelenting busyness, I was still able to squeeze in this important tradition.

As I reflected on 2013, the title of an influential book popped up over and over . . . Necessary Endings. Early in 2013 I began reading this book by Dr. Henry Cloud. It helped me to process a series of unexpected and painful endings that had come my way, unbidden and unwanted, and beyond my control. This book helped me to find peace and to heal raw, wounded places.

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Many things in my life had ended. I learned that sometimes even good things in our lives have to be pruned away so that something new can grow. We grieve the losses and learn from them and then open our arms to embrace the new that is ahead.

So, although my theme for 2014 might seem cliche in some ways, for me it is more than a cliche. It is filled with anticipation as well as fear. "New Beginnings" a phrase often heard around New Year, a time for resolutions, for wiping the slate clean and starting over. I'm not making any resolutions (well, except to write 2014 instead of 2013) and I'm not trying to wipe out my past. No, I am embracing the past and seeking to expand my soul by learning from it, by being enriched by the wonder and joy of what has been (even what has been lost), by assimilating it into my outlook on life. Still, 2014 is a year of New Beginnings, a year to pursue a master's degree in counseling, a year to pursue God's call on my life in different ways, a year to maintain valued relationships while also building new ones.

2013 was about coming to peace with the past. 2014 is about moving forward to the new fruit that has space to grow where all that has been pruned once was.

Do you have a theme or word for the new year?

I would love for you to share it here, and, if you'd like, why you chose that word or theme.

Clutter to Clarity

"Define what you are shooting for, and then prune against that standard." 

~ Dr. Henry Cloud (Necessary Endings)

In June I began a Clutter Buster Challenge - get rid of 7 items per day. By the end of August I had gotten rid of over 5,000 items (much of it paper). Choosing what to keep and what to discard gave me clarity about my life.

In the past I had been a school teacher and a youth worker. Those seasons have ended and now I am looking ahead to a new season. Although the picture of the next season is still a little fuzzy, I see a picture of a counselor, a teacher, and a writer. While I gave away many of my tools that had served me well as a school teacher or youth leader, I kept those tools that would help me as a counselor, non-school teacher, and writer. In my sorting and evaluating, I found clarity about the season that had ended and the season ahead.

The old must go to make way for the new. Pursuing new opportunities requires energy, time, and focus. As long as I hung on to the old, I was stealing time, energy and focus from what lies ahead. I had to let go of the old to make room for the new. Letting go of the old is giving me the time and space to focus on the new. As I focus on the new, I am excited about what lies ahead.

My Clutter Buster Challenge has ended. Purging my home of what has come to an end has given me emotional and mental space to pursue the future. Still, I own too much. My next challenge is "Finding a Home" for everything, also known as "having a place for everything, and everything in its place." I can tell that this is going to lead to further pruning. As I continue to prune, I trust that my next steps will become clearer and clearer as well. 

Have you had a time when you made room for a new season in your life? What helped you to transition into that new opportunity?