Starting Small

My boys and I take a lot of walks, but they wouldn't usually describe it as such. In fact, they'd wrinkle their little noses and say 'No, thank you.' (hopefully, with those correct manners!) if you proposed this business of walk taking. That's because every single one of our walks start out as a simple search for 'adventure'.  Actually, backing up a bit farther, our walks start with checking the temperature and assuring them they do, in fact, need to wear their shoes in winter!
But once we're properly bundled, out the door, and on the hunt for adventure in its many shapes and sizes, we usually end up taking a walk! My little men don't realize my ulterior motives are fresh air and exercise but they absolutely know we have the best adventures outside. Starting small ('Boys, please grab your coats!') and using my words wisely ('Let's go find an adventure!') can make a significant difference in the motivation of tiny humans and, as it turns out, grown ups, as well!

I don't set resolutions anymore. At least, not the grandiose 'New Years' kind. There's nothing wrong with these, of course, and if that happens to be your motivational style then please keep on keeping on!! But I, personally, refuse to declare, 'Well, because it's the first day of January, I now resolve to keep my house spotless, start growing and canning all my own vegetables, work out every day without fail, make seven new friends this year, run my own in-home business, and (feel free to fill in the blank with any/all of your own lofty ambitions..)'
I've learned from past experience and a few free personality tests, that this is simply not realistic for me. I will eventually burn out, drop the ball and then become discouraged. Plus, I've come to terms with the fact that my introverted self may need an entire lifetime to find and develop genuine friendship with even just a few people!
It's not that I don't believe myself to be capable of achieving every single one of my goals.. eventually! But I'm learning to give myself grace as I grow and learn, take each moment as it comes, and not set myself up for failure by signing up for a marathon if I know my body is only ready for a 5K. I'm realizing the value to starting 'small' and growing daily in diligence and intentionality.
Diligence: 'careful and persistent work or effort.'
Intentionality: 'the fact of being deliberate or purposive. ' (and purposive: 'having, serving, or done with a purpose.')

'Your behavior is a reflection of what you truly believe' -Hyrum W. Smith

I don't make resolutions for the new year but I DO set small goals for my days, weeks, etc. They may not look very glorious on paper, but I've found that, in my life, the key is to start small and use the right verb-age, not unlike those 'adventure' walks with my young warriors. I don't tell the boys I'm ready to go walk a mile or two, because they don't usually think they're up for that! But if we're simply on a mission to find the perfect puddle, or in search of acorns for ammunition, or the right length of jousting spear, they are always up for an adventure!
Along those same lines, when I want to reduce the amount of 'stuff' in my home, I start with my closet instead of attempting to purge the entire house in one day. When I'm overwhelmed with the state of disarray in a certain room, I start by making the bed or cleaning off the counter (vs. burning it all down!) Start small, my friends! This is huge! If I want to be less distracted, I need to choose a sustainable place to start (logging off of Facebook) instead of something drastic that I'll quickly regret and/or undo, like getting rid of my phone completely or fantasizing about living in a time period where people couldn't even fathom bringing a telephone to the dinner table.

Instead of despairing over the extra long list of resolutions you wrote for this year, be encouraged by the fact that you can start fresh today and you can start with one thing. Right now is the best possible time to begin implementing a small change into our lives, and those small changes will stack like bricks to create the foundation of a life lived on purpose! Then we do these small things again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, until we can't remember not doing it that way; not making the bed every morning or washing our face before bed or spending even just 10 minutes out in the fresh air!
God doesn't require that we read 'x' amount of His word each year. But I'm finding that the deeper we dig into His word, the more we come to know Him and that is when we will understand His will and then, as a result, want to dig deeper! So, you can commit to read through the Bible in a year but what matters more than that accomplishment is our simply choosing to read a chapter of the Bible every day and allowing the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out. Shoot, start with a few verses if that's all you 'have time' for, but don't stop there- that is key. When we go walking we put on our coats, we go outside, we start searching for sticks, or eagles, or wild blackberries, and then we go walking! Dressing properly for the weather is where we must start but it would be silly to stop there.
Romans 12:2 'Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.'

Dear Readers, let's start small. May we be encouraging to ourselves and whoever is journeying alongside us. And let's work with diligence and intentionality to turn these small starts into habits that can change the way we live. I recently read some of Charlotte Mason's writings on the development of habits in young children and how vital this is to the formation of their character. 'Every day, every hour, the parents are either passively or actively forming those habits in their children upon which, more than anything else, future character and conduct depend.' Charlotte Mason
I'm not sure about you, but I find that massively inspiring and secretly terrifying. Such power we hold! What are our actions, words, and priorities teaching our kids about life? The things we allow and encourage in our homes, the behavior we insist upon (or let slide) will become habits for them. Even if you don't have tiny humans watching your every move, you must still consider your sphere of influence, and our very lives! 'Every day, every hour' habits are being formed and those habits shape lives- lives that could change the world. I pray that this thought would sink deep in to each and every one of us; that we would truly understand why starting small, right now, is a really big deal.

'It's not what we do every now and then- but what we do every day that changes everything.' 

Ann Voskamp