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Changes – Why We Should Stop Trying to Keep Up With It All

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Goal Setting is Great but We Should Try Not to Keep Up With the Crowd

As the new year begins, there is a strong tendency to get caught up in making resolutions and goal setting because everyone else seems to be making them. Not that you should not evaluate your life and see what changes need to be made. That is absolutely necessary if we strive to do better in every way. We need to figure out what is working and what did not work for us and for our families and make the necessaries changes. As a believer in Christ, I often have to take a step back and figure out where I’ve gone wrong. And that is often. It’s an absolute necessity.

But when we try to “goal set” at a certain fast past because everyone else seems to have made something, that poses a problem for us. It makes us feel that we are less than others, that we are behind on the trend, that we don’t have our act figured out, that we are big failures, and on and on the list goes to make us feel so much worse than others.

Social media can be good in that it helps us connect with others but at the same time, it has a way of making us feel that we have to be a certain way or do a certain thing to fit in. At the start of the year, I hopped upon Instagram and saw so many posts and stories of people setting goals, making resolutions, and getting their home organized already.

At that point, all my Christmas decor was still up, kids at home from school, me trying to enjoy the few days after the holidays with them at home. I mean – it was only the first or second day of the year. Yet all of a sudden, I started to feel a pressure that I was not doing enough. I had no “word of the year”, I had no goal made to share with others, etc. Especially as a blogger, that could really make one feel behind. Why did I not have an organizing post ready for my readers? How can I start organizing fast? Should I hurry and create an organizing post challenge? Where do I even start? How do I not have a planner? Where did I fail? All those questions came flooding through my mind.

Why We Should Let God Lead

But then through prayer, I got my answer. God sure has a way of helping us find our way back to him when we stray. In the same voice on Instagram, I saw another post that really gave me just what I needed. Do you follow Proverbs31 ministries on Instagram. I love to read their verses and encouragement posts when I spot them. I also love following some who not only share their daily style and lives but who use it to encourage others through God’s Word.

So Proverbs31 ministries had a post on their page that talked about going with God’s pace in a fast pace world. When we go with our fast pace, we most likely will end up in the wrong direction and get less done. But when we go with God’s pace, He will steer us in the right direction and we most likely will get more done. His pace may not be what we desire but it definitely will be the correct pace. That stopped me in my tracks and let me know that I didn’t have to keep up with everyone else. After all, we are just coming out of the holidays and jumping back into a routine is not always possible. I also read a few other books and articles that were so very encouraging. We are what we are by God’s grace and mercies. We don’t have to do it all.

As a mom and homemaker, there is already so much to be done to keep a home. Basic home care such as cooking and daily cleaning, meeting family’s needs, prepping the kids back to school (if your kids are in school) or simply meeting their daily needs is enough to keep our hands full. Not to mention the fact that we often burn out ourselves doing all the things. I simply don’t want to feel like a failure and add to my “let’s keep up with everyone else’s” list. After all, who knows what sacrifices they themselves have to make to get things done? Maybe stay up late, or have someone help, or simply neglect a task to do something else. No one has it perfect.

I was encouraged that I don’t have to keep up with what seems right for everyone else’s family and home. They may have gotten a head start with their goals and resolutions. And that is OK. But our homes and families and schedules are unique. So I don’t have to feel less of a mom, blogger because of what I see online. Just take it one step at a time and do my best.

Encouragement to Those of Us Who “Feel” Behind

I may not have a fancy printable for you, a “sound good” resolution, or an organizing post but what I do have is encouragement. It reminds me of why I started this blog in the first place – to encourage moms and homemakers. Let’s not try to keep up with our pace or the pace of what we see around us (particular online). It’s not always a reality for all. Let’s keep up with God’s pace as He alone will steer us in the direction we need to go. {Psalm 16:11}

  • Should we set goals? It’s not bad – after all, people tend to accomplish and be successful if they follow through with them.
  • Should we evaluate? By all means – we want to do better.
  • Should we organize our homes? Yes – to bring a sense of order.
  • Should we try race because some else seem to have these done at what seem like “perfect” times? No – because “we should not measure our failures by someone else’s success”. I just came up with that so if you’ve heard it before then I guess I am not the originator:) We cheer them on but we try not to compare and feel bad about our state.

What I Desire to Do

If you want to know if I have any resolutions the answer is not really, but I do want to make some changes. As I mentioned earlier, I love to evaluate and see what is working and what is not. As believers, wives, moms, homemakers, and just people in general we should always strive to make changes to do better if things are not working in our homes and personal lives.

As for this blog, you may have noticed a long dry season of this blog. It’s because seasons changed and when the kids were smaller I seemed to have been able to blog more. Maybe it was all the late nights and early morning or during their naps. But they are growing and their needs are different. Another reason is that we’ve moved and moved and have not settled into any kind of balanced routine. Moving throws you off especially when you go from owning to renting (something I never imagined us doing). Also, I find myself struggling as a blogger. I don’t know – it seems that I have lost some real desire. It’s like part of me want to blog and another part says, I just can’t. I can’t even be blog focus. My blog needs a good makeover and back-end work and just the thought of figuring all that stuff out is another issue. Overall, there’s just too much more attraction out there to pull one’s attention from what they love doing. So if you are wondering why I have not blogged much, these are some of the reasons.

But I do want to evaluate where things are and possible make a few changes. To be opened, I have thought of shutting down the blog over and over again. If I keep it opened, I don’t know exactly what my content should be all about but I do know that I want to keep it for home and family. Given the reasons above, my content (or lack thereof) seems to be harder to come by these days. I can only trust in the Lord to give direction as he alone can show the correct way.

So I hope you found the post encouraging and hopefully, if you are trying to keep up and coming up short, you will take time to slow down and re-evaluate.

How are you doing with goals and resolutions? Do you find yourself trying to keep up and feeling behind? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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