New Year's Resolutions

I have some.  I've been inspired reading the resolutions from other blogs.  Heidi Swap has a quote for the year, Ali Edwards picks a word for the year to inspire, and many others bravely and openly list their resolutions for the new year on their blog.  More than one seminar, self-help book, infomercial, and blog entry to improve myself has caught my eye and interest.  Believe me I need help, need to improve, and be a better person.  I worry some of these easy self help plans may be empty, even if you complete every step, do they lead to the right direction?  Discerning this is a very important step in picking the right resolution.  

I'm looking for the right path, even if it be rocky, I need to be on the right one.   I have to then start from the Source and remember where I'm headed in the first place.  God has not left me without seminars, self-help manuals, or bold messages.  It's just He didn't promise it would be flashy, easy, or help me to focus on myself more.   Take for instance the biggest of all self-help topics - diet.  There are so many things to try but do they really lead to health?  Last year my sister Lisa wrote this post about struggles with weight after being inspired by someone who connected overeating with the sin of gluttony.  After I read this it made more sense to me than any other thing I've come across on weight loss.  It led to the Truth.  

So, this year with my resolutions, I am trying to seek what is really true, what will honestly HELP me to overcome the multitude of ways I come up short.  At the end of 2009, I know I won't be reviewing this as a thin, unselfish, meal providing, giving, and positive person, but I may be reviewing this as a better person with confidence that I walked the right path and struggled the right way- that is my resolution .  This is the quote I chose for this new year to inspire me.  It is words of Pope John Paul II during a visit to Chili to beatify a saint I have come to admire, St. Teresa of the Andes:

Do not be afraid of the 

demands of the love of Christ.

On the contrary, be afraid

of being faint hearted,

of taking things lightly,

of seeking your comfort,

of being selfish:

of everything that seeks to 

silence the voice of Christ"

~John Paul II

April 2, 1987

St Teresa of the Andes

this is her message:  only in God can one find happiness; 

God alone is infinite joy.