4 days into 2017... How are those resolutions going?

There is something about the start of a new year that gives us courage to say this time will be different. All of us go there at some stage. If you don't believe me, just read your Facebook / Twitter feed on Old Years Eve.

This year I going to ...

get into shape

get out of debt

finish that novel

spend more time with my kids

get organised 

quit being negative

be happy

bath the dog at least twice a month

Sound familiar? So we leap from one year to the next, hoping for change. Some manage to stick to it and if you're one of those, you have my undying admiration! For me, none of it has ever stuck and I think I've figured out why.

Resolutions (goals, if you will) are decisions we make and attempt to see through in our own strength. This can be a set up for failure. Consider this:

• Most new years resolutions are made during the December holidays. You're on holiday. You're going to bed when you feel like it and waking up without your alarm clock. You have time to think and reassess. The pace of life is different, less rushed. The demands of normal life have been shoved into a cupboard with duct tape over their mouths.

• We make resolutions and stick to them by the sheer force of our will. For some of us, this backfires spectacularly. I've discovered that my won't power, is far stronger than my will power. The moment I eyeball myself in the mirror and declare I will stop eating chocolate this year, without fail, the rebel in me rises up with a smirk and says Oh, really? 

• We don't live in a vacuum. We are surrounded by family and circumstances who aren't bothered in the slightest about our resolutions and for the most part won't help us keep them. Trust me, I have two teenagers and one pre-teen. Seldom are my tidy plans and their social lives in sync.

But there is hope for those of us who long for change, and it's to be found at the feet of Jesus. We don't need another set of resolutions, those impossible lines that one can neither limbo under or vault over. 

What we need is vision. God-inspired, God-breathed, God-empowered vision. 

When you sit with Him and He says... Okay girl, how about we tackle this debt?. You're in a good place to start working on it because you are doing it hand-in-hand with the One who is able to do what you alone cannot.

Vision is seeing your life through His eyes and walking it into reality holding His hand. Not relying on yourself, but fully trusting Him and His ability to help you.

So I guess you could say I do have a new years resolution - no more resolutions!

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.