Who did I become this year? Is it who God wants me to be? Is it who I want to be? How did I get here, and what will I do about it next year?
At the end of every year these are the questions I’m essentially trying to answer, but to answer them correctly other questions need to be answered first.
Every year is a continuation of the last built by how you processed the past year and your decisions about what you’ll do about what you discovered. Whether consciously or not we each look at our lives and decide what the culmination of experiences mean. That decision determines what the next chapter of our life will be and the articulation of our story to that point. We can paint a fairytale, a mundane monologue, or a horror story. But whatever story we tell is the framework for the plot we’ll live out and becomes the motivation for our execution. The story we tell ourselves about what we’ve experienced determines how we’ll live our life from that point on.
What I See Clearly
The inventory of this year can only be correctly assessed from a healed perspective. It’s in taking inventory- intentionally focusing- that our perspective shifts, and we truly see the benefits and drawbacks of our journey. I call it my vision test.
Second Look Revelations
It’s the lack of vision that causes us to stumble, delay, and derail. I believe a vision that hasn’t been tested is one that can’t be trusted. It must be examined for inaccuracies and blind spots to make sure the first assessment was the right one. A second look brings surety and confirmation. It solidifies direction and increases focus.
What we see at first glance rarely is all there is to any given situation. A second look helps to fully get the benefits of all the lessons. It’s in the second look that God has the opportunity to shift our perspective and position us for acceleration. Look again. It’s worth it.
The Vision Test
At the end of every year, I pose questions to myself based on the areas I feel impacted my life the most. Time, talent, purpose, pain- my relationship with these things marked my year. But before I answer the questions, I pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me the…
