Who I want to be

'Tis the season for a new you!!! I don't know if you've noticed but there has been an influx of TV commercials about losing weight, Proactiv ads for clear skin, and little men at the mall that hand out pamphlets to us as we go into the food court. They all know that at the start of each new year about half of our population signs itself up for the 'New and Improved!' label. I'm not really one to make goals, to be honest I don't like setting myself up for disappointment...that way anything I DO accomplish officially exceeds my expectations (I know, it sounds awful).I'm not sure if you are one of those people or not, but regardless... since we are all affected by the 'new and improved' labels whether we just see them or we participate in them, I have something to share.

Sunday at church was the first sermon of the new year, and the pastor talked about setting goals, respectively. However the approach was one that I hadn't hear before. There was no talk of motivational songs, no 'safety words', and no 12-step plans. His take on goals was one that had its foundation in who we are as people, rather than what we want to be as society. It's quite a biblical foundation (go figure), as Christ preaches more about who we should want to be rather than what we should want to be (a point quite frustrating to me at times when I just want a Magic-8-Ball type of conversation with God!). The point of the message was that before we decide what we want to be, we need to decide who we want to be, because ultimately... who we are is what will last longer than what we are. People get fired, houses burn down, finances get messy... but character (good or bad) will prevail.

He recommended that we make a list, or write some paragraphs, containing who we wanted to be known as after we die (morbid, sorry).

Here's mine: