New Year's Resolutions

Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. -Psalm 90:10

Every year we make New Year's resolutions, but when we look back to our previous resolutions, did we complete them? I have Tae Kwon Do students tell me all the time, "I will workout more. I will go to classes more after testing. I will practice more after I complete my black belt." Unfortunately, these are empty promises, not to me, but to yourself. We look at a list of all of our goals and we most likely missed most of our goals. We look back at our grand plans and feel guilty because we didn't complete them. Then we start making excuses or blame others for our shortcomings. Then another new year comes around and we make more resolutions. What we do not realize is while we were making resolutions, trying to achieve them and failing to achieve them, we have spent something precious: time. Time does not come back. You cannot turn back the clock and do things over again. Because time is so precious, we should focus on things that do matter.

Some people want to be healthier, some people want to make more money, some people want to get organized, some people want a new career, etc. What do all these things have in common? These are all goals for ourselves. Why are we unhappy, unfulfilled, and dissatisfied when we don't achieve our resolutions? Because we make it about our own selfish goals. When we focus on ourselves, we are never satisfied. We are always pursuing the next goal, the next material goods that we want. Once we have these things, we are still empty, and we start asking for more and more. Our hunger for temporary happiness grows and so do our regrets.

Instead of focusing on our worldly treasures and goods, why not make your New Year's resolution with God? With Him, you are always fulfilled. If you feel something missing in your heart and spirit, why not follow God and follow His way?

Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.

-Job 8:7

Isn't it easy to live and appreciate the things you already have? We tend to continuously try to improve ourselves and our life, but usually we have these grandiose dreams and plans that do not fulfill our happiness. We waste all this time to make our dreams happen, but in reality they do not happen or they not meet our expectations.

It is easy for black belts and senior belts to go higher, have bigger egos, and show off more strength. But it is harder for us to go lower, to have humility and be more humble. We should bow lower as we go higher in rank. The more we know, the more we should learn and understand. The stronger we are, the more giving and helping our heart is.

We have this saying in Korea, "Head of a dragon and tail of a snake." When we make our resolutions, we make such large promises and goals that at the end of the year, all we achieve is a sliver of a snake's tail. Soon our time will come when we leave this earth and we cannot take anything with us. We must realize we really have nothing without God. With God, we have everything we need and everything we ever want. That should be our thinking and our New Year's resolution.