I'm not very good at the whole New Years Resolution thing. I usually don't make them at all. Last year I felt compelled to do no clothes shopping for the entire year. And I failed miserably. I think I lasted until about March when the Spring lines were coming in and I was getting so sick of winter and my wardrobe that went with it. There may also have been a little retail therapy going on to deal with the stress of Alex being in school. "Life is hard, so I deserve to get this skirt."
I still really like the idea of not buying new clothes for a year, but cutting myself off hard and fast seems to only make me want to shop all the more. I need a different approach for 2015.
As 2014 was winding down, the credit card bill was adding up, and the Christmas gifts were streaming in I began thinking about the word less. What if we could get by on less? Spend less money, have less stuff, be less busy. There's definitely a financial end to this. We are about to take out A LOT of loans to cover PA school for Alex this summer. It's always good to be saving more than you're spending.
But more than that is the mental, even spiritual end. I know materialism is a weakness of mine. I know that I tend to compare, and put a lot of stock into what others think of me. I fall into the trap of thinking my value lies in my possessions and appearance, and that I need more to be happy far too easily. More stuff, more food, more clothes, more gadgets, more make-overs for the house.....
more!
more!
m o r e!
So that's the resolution, to have less and be satisfied. So far that has manifested it's self in the form of 4 garbage bags full of clothes that need to be dropped off that the Goodwill. And taking all the toys Johnny had before Christmas out of rotation. and putting them in a box in our closet. Maybe we'll take them out in a few months and they will seem new again. Or maybe we'll get rid of some. If I do need to go out and get something new this spring or summer, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. But I want to make sure I'm getting it because I really need it, and not just because it might make me feel better for a couple days.
It's a new year. I want to shut of the machine in my head that is constantly trying to get more and be more and do more. I want to have less clutter, to clean out closets and drawers. I want the things we do have to be well chosen, good quality, things that we need. I also want to clean out some mentalities, the materialism, comparing, and dissatisfaction that can so easily take over and become toxic. I want more love for family and friends, more generosity and compassion in my heart, more Jesus in my life.
I still really like the idea of not buying new clothes for a year, but cutting myself off hard and fast seems to only make me want to shop all the more. I need a different approach for 2015.
But more than that is the mental, even spiritual end. I know materialism is a weakness of mine. I know that I tend to compare, and put a lot of stock into what others think of me. I fall into the trap of thinking my value lies in my possessions and appearance, and that I need more to be happy far too easily. More stuff, more food, more clothes, more gadgets, more make-overs for the house.....
more!
more!
m o r e!
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field,
which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
will he not much more clothe you,
O you of little faith?
~Matthew 6:25-30~
So that's the resolution, to have less and be satisfied. So far that has manifested it's self in the form of 4 garbage bags full of clothes that need to be dropped off that the Goodwill. And taking all the toys Johnny had before Christmas out of rotation. and putting them in a box in our closet. Maybe we'll take them out in a few months and they will seem new again. Or maybe we'll get rid of some. If I do need to go out and get something new this spring or summer, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. But I want to make sure I'm getting it because I really need it, and not just because it might make me feel better for a couple days.
It's a new year. I want to shut of the machine in my head that is constantly trying to get more and be more and do more. I want to have less clutter, to clean out closets and drawers. I want the things we do have to be well chosen, good quality, things that we need. I also want to clean out some mentalities, the materialism, comparing, and dissatisfaction that can so easily take over and become toxic. I want more love for family and friends, more generosity and compassion in my heart, more Jesus in my life.