Signs of a Delusional Mind

The new year is a time people look forward to. It is a time where we convince ourselves we have a second chance to improve our actions, attitudes and general circumstances - a time to reflect, look back at our accomplishments and failures alike to see what we did well and what went wrong. The new year is our chance to start over.

Birthdays are very much the same thing - a time of self-examination - and my birthday is in fact within the month of January thereby making such meditative introspections a double-dosed ingestion at this time of year.

And so, as part of this retrospect and prospect - and in the air of accountability - I am going to review the resolutions I made last January and essentially recommit to them.

1. Last year I said I wanted to begin memorising Scripture as a spiritual discipline, starting with the Psalms. Well, I pretty much failed at that. My wife and I had memorised Psalm 1 at the time of that post's writing, and we didn't get any farther than that. Every now and then we recite it together, but we never moved on. So, I'd like to re-commit to that.

2. This year I'd also like to continue reading through the Scriptures. I've been rather sporadic at keeping up with this one, but I did manage to do some: I read from Numbers through to the end of 1 Samuel, with a few Psalms and passages of 1 Chronicles thrown in the mix (I'm doing a chronological reading using my Olive Tree Bible Study iPhone app, so it jumps around a bit). I'd simply like to keep reading it, getting to know the Scriptures better and therein growing deeper and stronger in my relationship with Adonai.

3. I committed to reading at least one evening a week last year, and that was a farce of a resolution. My list of books I want to read keeps growing, and the dent I make in them is inconsequential - I'd like to say it's not for lack of trying, but in reality I just couldn't do it. Life has a way of running its own course, and now that I'm taking an online website development program, I'm basically reading textbooks and other assigned articles. I made a goal to read one book in December during my break, and the only time I touched it was to move it into a different room. I'd like to be able to set aside time to read for edification/pleasure, but that seems less and less plausible as the days go by.

4. Last year, I also committed to doing some writing, and while I did a decent job at keeping this blog updated and filled with my thougths (22 posts last year, doubling my previous highest!), all those ideas for papers and articles are still ruminating in my head, rolling around like lost marbles looking for the exit. From a positive-thinking angle, I did write the first line to what may one day become a theological treatise, and I did write a potential introduction to my theolgically-based Christmas book (which I posted as a four-part series starting here). Maybe one day when I have more time...¹

5. I still desire to work out, get in and stay in shape - and ideally to do this at least three times a week. While I did really well for the first half of the year, once my gym membership expired at the end of the summer, I fell off that bandwagon like a lump of lazy coal. Needless to say, I didn't run any marathon - and that's why I've agreed to do the half with my friend this June! Hopefully, it won't be a failure. I'm also hoping to settle into some kind of routine and kickstart the gym-going soon too. We'll see how that goes.

6. I'd be lying if I said I learned to play guitar, but I wouldn't be lying when I say I took a month of lessons and even learned to play a Third Day song along with a 3 Doors Down song and one from Emery. Don't ask me to play them now though. However, I have joined my wife's worship team! I'm playing djembe. It's not a guitar. But maybe that's next.

7. Any desire of woodworking was snuffed out with the same reasons that I didn't write a theological magnum opus or read thirty books - I didn't have or make enough time for it. Also, woodworking is an expensive hobby. Yet, the plans in my head for end-tables, coffee tables, and storage chests keeps growing...

8. Okay, I'm going to keep the last one cheesy like last year: I'd like to continue attempting to be more loyal and committed as a husband, son, brother, and friend - in all the ways these roles/identities involve - because it's a good goal to have and I think there's always room for improvement in our interrelations (Adonai, our merciful God, blessed be He, knows full well how often and how hard I've failed in all points). Also, I'm going to be a dad, and that freaks me out, but I'm hoping I can one day be a good one (I mean, I'd like to be a good one every day I am one - not just once).

And there you have it. My year in review and in foresight. I'm keeping it simple this year, as there's a lot on my plate as it is. Better than nothing, as they say.

I hope you each had excellent holidays, celebrations, relaxations, and edifications.

1. 'But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time?' Touché, Merovingian. Touché. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see this.)