The New Year is two days old.
Some of us started 2018 armed with a list of resolutions while others distilled our desire for change down to One Words like trust, kindness, release. Whatever your mode of change, the New Year is prime time for a new you … to a certain point.
In the midst of all the New Year-New Me changing and rearranging of our lives, let’s determine to be us. No matter what choices you end up making, stay true to what you value.
There’s so, so much you should be doing with your lives — and so, so many people willing to tell you what and how you should be doing it. In a very real sense, I’m one of those people, too. How ironic. But don’t abandon this blog post, okay? Because I’m not telling you to get more sleep or lose weight or eat fewer carbs or save more and spend less. All of those choices are up to you and how you want to spend the rest of 2018.
But whatever you do or don’t do — do it in your own distinctive style. Be you!
And that’s all I want to say about that.
In Your Words: I’ve missed you all and our twice-a-week conversations! Yes, it was good to take a break, but it’s good to be back. Let’s just chat today. How are you? How do you “do you” in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else?
[ctt template=”8″ link=”6lQTe” via=”yes” ]In Others’ Words: How Do You “Do You”? https://wp.me/p63waO-2sN #quotes #perspective[/ctt] [ctt template=”8″ link=”6ED7f” via=”yes” ]”To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” https://wp.me/p63waO-2sN #quotes #RalphWaldoEmerson[/ctt]
Comments 15
Yes, yes, yes! As Shakespeare said, “To thine own self, be true!” I would just add that finding your true self, requires many, many deep conversations with God. And once you find your true self, never waver, for it would be like nailing a square peg into a round hole. It will eventually fit if it’s beaten down enough, but it’ll lose its sharp edges and the hole will be misshapen. I’m trying to keep the world from doing that this year.
Happy New Year, Beth! May God show you wonderful things this year!
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Good morning, Angie! What a vivid word picture of how we let others’ expectations beat us down and change us into someone we’re not. And yes, God knows us best (Psalm 139), and knowing Him helps us know our truest self.
Welcome back and happy new year, Beth! I find that by having my quiet time before work, it helps me “be me”. I’ve been especially encouraged to be me by reading books by Holley Gerth and Lysa TerKeurst as well.
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Good morning, Ellie! Yes, encouragement from others helps me be me, too. And you mentioned two authors I enjoy. I also like Elisa Morgan and Priscilla
Shirer — her book on prayer, Fervent, has helped me grow in the area of prayer.
So glad you’re back Beth! And what a great message to start my new year. If you have grown up and been conditioned by a culture of guilt for the choices you make, this is such a hard step to take. But I have found that when I am making the choices that God wants me to make, when I am doing what He wants me to do, when and where He wants me to do it–when I am being true to who He created me to be– I feel like a puzzle piece placed in the right spot. And I feel God smiling because His big picture is coming together. Don’t let the world hammer your piece of the puzzle in to a place it wasn’t meant to fit!
Yes, Beth. Amen. I always hope that, by the end of each year, I am more the woman God’s created me to be. The words He’s given me for the past few years have really challenged me to be more authentic, and to depend more on Him.Contemplating one word for the year has taught me more about God and His nature. Happy New Year, Beth!
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Happy 2018, Jeanne. And yes, choosing One Word does help us laser in on who we want to be and how we want to live, doesn’t it?
I put a priority on staying in touch with friends, knowing and often praying for their situations, as they do mine–and I believe that is part of God’s river of life.
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Dee: You live out “to thine own self be true” in a beautiful, life-giving way.
Welcome back! Missed you. I’ve always marched to a different drummer, which caused me a lot of grief until that Drummer became God. So I’m used to people looking askance at me. lol
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Pat: If you’re marching to a different drummer, I like your beat. 🙂
P.S. I love the new background. It makes the blog so much easier to read.
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P.S. Stay tuned: a new website is coming …
So glad to see you here again.
After a truly horrifying morning…the elephant was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t breathe – I’m just glad to be here. As for being me…could someone else take this gig for a couple of days? I need a vacation.
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Andrew: I know there are any number of people who would offer to take some shifts for you … but I don’t know how well we would stand in your stead. Praying for you, my friend.