{"id":91,"date":"2012-01-20T10:19:31","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T15:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=91"},"modified":"2012-01-26T10:41:43","modified_gmt":"2012-01-26T15:41:43","slug":"a-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2012\/01\/20\/a-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Year . . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Tis the season when many of us begin the new semester and new calendar year with goals and resolutions and great intentions that this year <\/em>we really are<\/strong> going to get organized, or lose that weight, or do those exercises, etc. And it is also the year when many of us will start out strong but will eventually find our efforts diminishing as the busyness of our lives begins to take over.<\/p>\n

A different approach that might be helpful for those among us who struggle with unrealistic expectations of ourselves is to focus on a single word for the new year that we will use to guide our attitudes and our actions in the coming weeks and months. I know of one colleague who is now keeping a small daily journal with her as a visible reminder of her word and specific ways she tries to practice that word throughout each day.<\/p>\n

Some words that might be worthy of our consideration are taken from the Christian tradition of the fruits of the Holy Spirit but can be applied to anyone, regardless of spirituality or philosophy:<\/p>\n