Your Next Yes

Everywhere I turn lately, I see reminders that we’ve rounded the corner on the last quarter of the year. We have fewer than 30 days left to push toward the finish line, meet our goals, and make something happen with the remainder of 2019. This year carries an extra dose of intensity as December 31 marks the end of a decade.

For many of us, this message lights a fire of focus to dig in and finish strong. For others, shining a spotlight on the past year, let alone the past ten, feels like the worst kind of exposure. We think of the list of things we hoped we would accomplish but didn’t, the relationships we haven’t tended to, or spiritual and emotional disconnection we still feel.

If that’s you today, you’re in good company. I am a wife and mom, a therapist, an Enneagram 9, and a lifelong people-pleasing perfectionist. All of these elements seem to be the perfect recipe for forgetting, avoiding, and distracting myself from what matters most to me. It’s almost second nature to simply melt into the background and support everyone else.

My relationship with goal-setting is complicated. I have a history of laughing it off with lighthearted comments like, “I don’t do goals,” or “I’m not good at being a grown up.” Over the past year, God has graciously convicted my heart surrounding this struggle. The truth is, these jokes aren’t cute – they are lies that lead me to live small.

Read the full article at Grit & Virtue.