I don’t make ‘new year’s resolutions’ but I do think of January as a time for new beginnings. It is never too late to try again, to start over. Everyone makes wrong decisions, which might bring terrible results. Sometimes we almost drown in regret; we can spend any amount of time wishing we could redo some of those things. We can’t do that but we CAN begin NOW to think more carefully before we make decisions. We can’t change the past but we CAN change the future. It happens because we are learning, or have learned, to make better decisions in every area of our lives.
We have matured a bit when we realize that many of our ‘miserable’ years were a result of own decisions. Stop blaming everyone else; face up to the truth that YOU brought those times on yourself. I was SHOCKED when I realized that! Even when someone mistreats us, it goes back to the time when we had a wrong opinion about that person, the result of a decision. Yes, we thought he or she was an honest, good person. We are told to look for the best in people but we often make our decisions before we know a person very well. The truth is, sometimes we never really know someone. We know what we hope that person is but our opinion is often wrong. Isn’t that sometimes true also of their opinion of us?
We can’t change anyone but we can change ourselves. It begins with each of us. Do we have the attributes that we admire in others? Are we honest? Is our word to be trusted? Do we take things that don’t belong to us? Until we are the kind of friend that we would like to have, we should not mention the faults of others. We never know who is watching us, trying to learn the kind of person we are. Our words and actions can influence many, whether in a good or bad way.
Do we act the same all the time or do we change our behavior when around different people? Can others rely on us when we make a promise or is that wasted breath? Do we know those who we can believe? Do they do what they say? Some talk one way and act another. These I avoid; my Mama used to say, “Actions speak louder than words.” When we say one thing, then do the opposite, others can and will see how false we are! The same happens when we realize that the words of others are not to be believed. DOESN’T THAT HURT!!!
The truth is, however, that each of us can become the person that we admire and others can trust. WE must decide to change, to begin again to be a person that others admire and RESPECT. This takes only the decision to change from the one we have been in the past. No one can do this for us; it is totally up to us.
I have found that in order to be the person I want to be, I must be in right standing with God. He sees our potential, not our faults. When we begin to use the abilities that He gave each of us, we, too, might see our potential to enjoy a wonderful life to the fullest. This is so much more rewarding than spending our days in trying to cheat others in some way. SELF-RESPECT is a precious gift; when we lose it, we are headed down a negative path to further unhappiness. Our mistakes will show up more often and we won’t know that sense of achievement that might have been ours.
TODAY can be the beginning of our new life! What is your decision?
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ABOUT LURA ZERICK
82-year-old Lura Zerick is the mother of 5, grandmother of 12 and great-grandmother of seven. She was born and raised in the Florida Panhandle and now lives on six acres of woods in S.E. Alabama, near Geneva.
She has been writing since 1965. Her articles are published in regional and national magazines. She has authored five books: Who Do You Think You Are? (1989), The Golden Olden Days, (2002) River Villa (2007) The House of Esther (2011) Getting Older and Enjoying It! (2004) (The last book was one of three chosen nationally to be featured in an article written by Donna Childress and published by the National Council on Aging in the Fall/Winter issue of their publication, INNOVATIONS)
Lura has composed lyrics and music of 70 gospel songs and recorded 15 songs on 2 CDs.. She sang show tunes and popular songs in nightclubs, a cruise ship, with several TV guest spots.
She wrote and produced a weekly, then daily, radio program, “Encouragement for Today’s Woman”; edited and published “Living with Hope”, a quarterly newsletter of the writings of women across America; co-hosted a 2-hour weekly radio program, “The Saturday Morning Show”; participated in and co-produced a Sunday afternoon gospel music radio program.
Lura was Executive Editor of a regional magazine, Grassroots South; Editor’s Assistant for an international publication, “Journal of Marital & Family Therapy”; wrote a newspaper column, “Encouragement for Today “ as well as features and news articles for various newspapers. Her articles have been published in Alabama Living, Spirit Led Woman, Just Between Us, Writer’s Digest, Mature Living, Christian Single, Army Flier, Army Times, Looking Back and other publications.
Lura is currently working on three books: Bible Quest, Feeding Our Spiritual Selves and Another Woman; Another Well, the story of her life.
As a survivor of years of domestic violence, Lura had no idea that her best and most rewarding years were in the future!
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