2021: An Open Letter

Every year we look to bloggers, influencers, life coaches and especially our spiritual leaders, for optimism at the top of the year. We want to believe that every year will be better than the next, just by virtue of changing dates on a calendar. Pastors create sermons about all the incredible and dynamic things that will make up the coming year in order to give hope. I understand why this is needed and I’ve been guilty of doing the same. I usually want my first post of the year to be high vibe inspiration to conquer every goal you have left over from last year. But what happens when that same goal is leftover from one year to the next, to the next, and the next…until it’s too late to achieve it?

I realized today that we often mistake inspiration for a state of being when it is more so a state of becoming. We think of the state of being inspired as something we are, instead of acknowledging that it is just the first step in the process of what we wish to become.

This January 1^st, I want to remind you that time waits for no one, and there is no such thing as arriving. We are always in a constant state of movement. We can claim that it’s always forward movement, but more often than not, it’s a series of side moves, or active stagnation. We’re always doing something, but our actions aren’t actually getting us anywhere, if we don’t move to advance.

So, this year, instead of a usual blog post, you’ll get a little more of an open letter – a small insight into where I am, how I got here, and how I think it can help us all to move forward.

 

My friend is in the hospital. On life support, she is currently enthralled in the greatest battle she has ever faced, and she has been for a month now. Diagnosed with Covid back in November, in the hospital all of December, and now on life support as we enter January – arguments vary. Some would say that she’s dying, while others argue that she’s fighting for her life. All as we pray and wait.

For me, since speaking to her mother about her condition, those have been the three words that resonate with me most – ‘pray and wait’. I think that these 3 words can often be self-debilitating for believers. We spend our time praying and waiting when we should be praying and working.

Alone with my thoughts, reflecting on our time together, I realized that I have known this woman for 9 years. We’ve shared moments, milestones, births, deaths, and disagreements, but last night I realized that she has never shared her dreams. I have no knowledge of her desired “life’s work”, and even more sadly, though my dream has remained unchanged all these years, it has also remained unachieved. Where we can all agree that 9 years should be long enough to accomplish anything, some live 90 years without ever having done so.

So, instead of inspiring you to conquer a world that is as yet unconquerable, I would like to challenge you to commit to FORWARD MOVEMENT! Never again should any of us make the mistake of believing that a spark of inspiration is all it takes. A spark of inspiration led me to write a book 15 years ago that is still unpublished today.

It is time for all of us to FOLLOW THROUGH. If we can’t find the wherewithal to do it for ourselves, maybe we can do it for all of those that were lost before they had the chance to.

This year, instead of screaming ‘New Year, New Me’, pledge to simply keep moving – forward. Dedicate yourself to the series of small steps that are necessary in the accomplishment of any goal. Work to actively advance, before your chess piece is knocked off the board.

Follow Me as I Follow God

@RevealingRuth