Toxic Resolutions
I was scrolling through twitter and had a good laugh at this:
No more toxic friendships in 2018
No more toxic relationships in 2018
No more toxic thoughts in 2018
Only Toxic by Britney Spears in 2018
I suppose it is only funny if you like Britney Spears like I do. Nonetheless as the new year rolls in everyone is thinking about what went well, what they want to leave behind and what “new” things they will embark on in the new year. Most of us would agree that it would be great to leave behind everything toxic, the hard and difficult things and of course the people, places and things that are tied to those. Yet, why is that often part of our resolution every year?
In order to have something new, we have to have endured something hard. It was a thought that came to me yesterday morning on the way in. We are quick to want something new. Then we want to go about getting it in the easiest way. So there is online dating if you are single, there is a loan place on every corner of the hood, there is a pill or a wrap to lose weight fast. There is this lie that in order to have a new phone, new man, new body, and simply put a new you, just visit this website, call this number or stop in that store. Yikes. Yet, those same arenas are there year after year because they don’t last or work, clearly.
So really the paragraph up above should read:
No more toxic solutions or expectations.
No more toxic quick fixes.
No more toxic lists that don’t reflect reality.
Only Toxic by Britney Spears. :)
Father, you aren’t confined by time. Yet, you have given us seasons to work through. You remind us that you are making all things new. Making implies that there is a process. May we enter into this year aware of the process and be thankful for it? Would you please show us how to work on adding good as much or more than we think about removing the bad? Lord, you waste nothing. So as we reflect back on the things that hurt us last year would you give us time and space to see as you see? Thanks for being a God of chances and choices. May we use our second, third, and billionth chance to choose you daily.
Amen,
Ash
