5 Things I Did in 2007 and Wish I Didn’t

“The unexamined life is not worth living,” so wrote Socrates.  “Examining our life reveals [unconscious] patterns of behavior” that are unhealthy says Robert Gerzon. I want to mature into the best God has planned for me, so I took some time this week to ponder 2007. 

Below are some things I’d change if I could and will for this next year. 

1. Stressed about how things would turn out. All that mental fussing I did over school, finances, work, relationships, children, and health issues was wasted energy and time. Nothing catastrophic happened. And the hardships that did occur? I was able to handle it; not always gracefully or well, but I handled it.
2. Planned my schedule too full. This made me overtired, overwhelmed and unprepared to handle life’s glitches. Plus I had a harder time dealing with God’s “intrusions.” These “intrusions” were really things God wanted me to do. I missed out on some blessings, peace, and ministry opportunities. 
3. Played it safe with my spiritual life. Last year I took a class at seminary on spiritual disciplines. Some of the things I learned were transformational . They would’ve stayed transformational if I had taken the time and guts to continue their implementation in my life. Learning new things is easy for me. Letting that learning permanently transform me is uncomfortable, takes discipline and means staying in tune with what I’m thinking/feeling. Unfortunately, I let myself be too busy, tired, and distracted to do those things on a continuing basis.
4. Slept-walked through my days.I didn’t mindfully pursue my goals. In fact, last year I don’t think I even wrote out any goals. Therefore, it was easy to neglect those fitness, finance, food, friendship, and physical goals. (I didn’t purposefully make them all “ef” goals.) On a side note, I don’t think I slept-walked at night either all last year. That’s a good thing!
5. Dwelled upon my thoughts more than God’s. I missed too many opportunities . . .  

• to meditate upon His Word
• to share it with others
• to bring it up in prayer
• to wrestle in my journal with it
• to memorize it
• to put it in some artwork
• to purposefully counter my lies with His Truth.

So tell me, what did you do in ’07 that you wish you hadn’t?